The Hindu Business Line : `Feel-good textile schemes lag on implementation'

THE introduction of schemes such as the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC), and Textile Reconstruction Fund (TRF) may well be ameliorative schemes that gave the `feel-good' factor to the textile industry, but the status of these schemes' implementation isn't so, said Mr B.K. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, Chairman of the Indian Cotton Mills Federation (ICMF).

Participating at the business session of the all-India Cotton Trade Associations conference on `Challenges to cotton trade' here, the ICMF chief said while it was commendable that the Central Government could set right the industry's deficiencies by introducing these schemes, "we need to introspect what the status of these schemes is after introduction."The schemes, according to him, suffered hassles at the implementation stage. While cotton production post-TMC launch came down with fall in the crop area, TUFS helped only financially sound textile companies and not the textile units that needed the modernisation fund. Fiscal reforms in the textile sector through introduction of the `Cenvat' duty had expedited the opening of the floodgates for duty evaders. Similarly, he felt that TRF continued to remain a non-starter till now, as the issue of determining the beneficiary textile units that are potentially viable under TRF remained unresolved.

Mr Vanavarayar held the view that his federation did not believe in lobbying to get the good tidings of policies but stood routed to broad-basing its vision for the growth of the textile industry. The ICMF-commissioned `vision statement' draft by Crisil Advisory services preparing the textile sector to face the 2005 free trade regime would be vetted by the ICMF committee next month.