The Hindu Business Line : Level playing field for textile industry sought

Kochi, Nov. 10 The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has urged the Union Government to announce proactive cotton policy and create a level playing field to enable the textile industry to have a healthy competition with its competing countries such as China, Pakistan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

Though India could occupy the second position in the global clothing trade, it started losing this advantage due to various negative policies thus totally eroding the competitiveness of the mother industry which employs 90 million directly and indirectly, Mr Umang Patodia, Convenor of Kerala Region and a Member of the Managing Committee, SIMA, said.

The textile industry, which has been facing worst ever crisis during 2007, 2008 and 2009, had started recovering from the recessionary pressures and already started realising better profitability in the domestic market, he said.

Multinational traders

Mr Patodia said that the multinational cotton traders, who had already established themselves in various other cotton growing under-developed countries in Africa, have intruded the Indian markets and collapsing the cotton trading economy in the country taking advantage of removal of cotton textiles from the Essential Commodities Act from December 2006.

The Indian textile mills had to pay 30-50 per cent higher price for the Indian cotton. Though India could continue to produce a record crop for almost five years, the abnormal prices of cotton made the textile industry to suffer, he said.

Though the industry has been crying for its survival, the Government had failed to take any bold measures during the last two years except the removal of import duty on cotton. However, over 40 per cent increase in Minimum Support Prices made cotton cost dearer, he added.

Mr Patodia, who is the Managing Director, Patspin India Ltd, said the five per cent export incentive on cotton announced with retrospective effect from 2008 to June 2009 and a bulk discount of Rs 650 offered by CCI and NAFED on purchase of two lakh bales and above, largely benefited only a handful number of multinational cotton traders to the tune of almost Rs 1,000 crore.

More Stories on : Textiles | Cotton | Industry Associations | Kerala

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