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Mumbai , Oct. 11

THE domestic textile machinery industry is urging the Government to set up a task force under the chairmanship of the Textile Commissioner to study the industry's problems and make recommendations to strengthen it.

Speaking at the second meeting of the Development Council for Textile Machinery Industry recently , Mr Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu, Co-Chairman, Federation of Indian Textile Engineering Industry, said the sector had been an "unintended victim of reforms" due to Government efforts to rescue it without creating support measures to improve its technological strengths.

It was unfortunate that initiatives, focussed on improving the textile industry's capability to meet challenges arising from a quota-free regime, were being taken without going into the long-term need to foster the textile machinery industry.

Mr Jayavarthanavelu said: "If textile machinery industry is given appropriate policy assistance, it should be possible to cater to domestic and export demands handsomely." He added that on the sector's agenda were plans to provide latest machines at competitive costs and delivery schedules and promote quality after sales services.

The industry has an installed capacity of Rs 3,800 crore, the market for such machinery and accessories in India is Rs 3,000 crore, with exports at Rs 400 crore.

However, members of the industry claim that the imports of machinery and accessories had been at Rs 2,000 crore, with internal production and supplies at less than Rs 1,000 crore. The reasons cited for the depressing state of affairs is that the supply of technical know-how and joint ventures dried up due to indiscriminate trade policies and unfriendly fiscal measures.

Mr Jayavarthanavelu said the policy encouraging the import of used textile machinery with the facility of concessional duties compounded the distress of local suppliers. He urged that the customs duty on all inputs for this sector be lower than the customs duty on fully assembled imported textile machinery, especially when the industry was loaded with disadvantages to the extent of 20 per cent by local levies, higher power cost, increased transaction costs and more. This was aggravated by exports declining by Rs 27 crore in 2002-03.

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