The Hindu Business Line : Sri Lanka to export garments to India

Coimbatore, Aug. 17 Sri Lanka, being a SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) member-state, can derive the duty-free route accessible under the SAFTA agreement to ship garments to India again at duty free, provided the garment units in the island nation had sourced the basic fabric from India.

Under this arrangement, Sri Lanka is likely to export this year to India 8 million pieces of garments. In this connection, the Sri Lankan textile trade team is soon expected to visit India to explore the fabric sourcing from Indian companies, according to Mr M.S. Mathivanan, Chairman of the Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL).

Mr Mathivanan, recently in Sri Lanka in connection with a buyer-seller meet organised by the PDEXCIL there, told the international conference on ‘Apparel and Home Textiles’ inaugurated here that out of the 8 million pieces of garments to be shipped to India, Sri Lanka should have made use of Indian fabrics to produce at least five million pieces.

He felt that the garment imports from Sri Lanka would give a win-win situation for both the countries. Sri Lanka enjoying the Generalised Scheme of Preference (GSP) status for its exports accorded by the EU and, hence, can ship its garments duty free in EU countries would provide opportunity for Indian fabric makers to sell their produce.

Unlike Sri Lankan exporters, Indian garment exporters, however, are to bear 9.5 per cent import duty on their garments exported to EU countries.

The three-day international conference, sponsored by the International Textile Education Consortium and the Komarapalayam-based SSM College of Engineering and attended by speakers from various countries, is meant to familiarise the latest trade trends in international markets for garments and home textiles.

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