The Hindu Business Line : DEPB rate cut irks knitwear exporters

THE knitwear exporting community in Tirupur are worried over the cut in the duty entitlement pass book (DEPB) scheme rate for knitwear items announced by the Commerce Ministry.

The sharp reduction in the rate will adversely impact the knitwear exports and is against the Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath's, earlier announcement that the scheme would continue till a new scheme is evolved to confer the same benefits, the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) said in a statement.

Reacting to the fixation of a lower DEPB rate for textile items, the TEA President, Mr A. Sakthivel, said it was a wrong move at a time when the garment exporters sought to enhance their export competitiveness in global trade.

Mr Sakthivel said the textile and garment exporters were yet to gauge the dynamics of the quota-free market and, under such a fluid and transition environment, the Government should wholeheartedly support the exporting industry.

The knitwear industry is particularly dominated by the small and medium enterprises and despite their inherent disadvantages, it has made concerted efforts to upgrade capacity and technology through huge investments with an eye on volume buyers , he said.

The knitted garment items were till now covered under two rate groups - items such as blouses, children's wear, ladies' wear, track suits were fixed at 11 per cent, while other items including night gowns, sports vests, panties were at 8 per cent DEPB rate. These rates have now been slashed by 4.9 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively.

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