• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

"The Cenvat chain completion would bring the vested interests (traders— master weavers) under the tax net. That is why they are resisting compliance with the new excise framework," Mr Parikh said.

NEW DELHI, April 2

THE Indian Cotton Mills Federation (ICMF) has urged the Government to refrain from diluting the "rational and equitable excise duty structure" that has been put in place for the textile sector in the 2003-04 Union Budget. The federation apprehends that the Government may roll back some of the measures on the excise front to accommodate "vested interests" in the textile sector.

"Large operators in the hitherto exempted segments have launched a misinformation campaign to frighten job workers and small players that completing the Cenvat chain would bring harassment and complicated procedures on them. This is far from true," the Chairman of ICMF, Mr Chintan Parikh, told newspersons here.

He said that the textile industry as a whole ran the risk of losing growth opportunities for all time to come if it did not rise above the current preoccupation with excise concessions, exemptions and the economics of evasion.

"The Cenvat chain completion would bring the vested interests (traders— master weavers) under the tax net. That is why they are resisting compliance with the new excise framework, which is very simple and has little scope for harassment," Mr Parikh said.

Citing the threat of surge in textile imports from China in the coming years, the ICMF Chairman said that the "vested interests" should not miss the larger picture in their attempts to achieve smaller gains.

The Chairman of CII Textile Committee, Mr S.P. Oswal, pointed out that China's total textile exports in 2002 stood at about $62 billion. He also said that Indian textile economy is expected to grow from the current level of Rs 1,25,000 crore to a level of Rs 3,00,000 crore by 2010.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Trade feels VAT rubs salt on wound

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line