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The opposition to the reduction in Customs duty on raw silk from 30 per cent to five per cent in the Budget is misplaced, according to a cloth manufacturing association.
Output should rise
“Instead of opposing the cut in duty, sericulturists should try and increase production since there is a supply gap of 10,000 tonnes,” said Mr G.K. Kediya, Convenor of the Yarn Development Committee of the Benares Cloth Manufacturers Association.
Quality silk
Stating that growers and weavers were inter-dependant on one another, Mr Kediya said if growers can concentrate on producing quality silk that would be on par with China then they would stand to benefit immensely.
“There is no competition between domestic and imported raw silk. Domestic silk can not be used without twisting, whereas Chinese raw silk can be used without twisting in Varanasi. The end-use of both is different and there is no competition between the two,” he said.
Prices
The supply gap of 10,000 tonnes can only be met through imports, Mr Kediya said.
On the other hand, domestic silk producers were offering their produce at a price just below imported raw silk which was unviable.
Obsolete technology
Not just that, raw silk producers should replace their obsolete reeling machines with modern ones to ensure better quality, Mr Kediya added.
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