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The Textile Magazine
APRIL 2012
Budget sops for technical textiles
technical textiles
The Union Budget for 2012-13 provides
multiple goodies for promoting the
technical textiles sector. The 12th
Five-Year Plan beginning in April will
implement the National Mission on
Technical Textiles.
As part of promoting small and medium-scale enter-
prises to venture into value-added textiles and technical
textiles, a venture capital scheme of Rs. 5,000 crores ($1
billion) has been set up titled the India Opportunities
Venture Fund.
Geotextiles gets a boost with an investment of Rs. 500
crores ($100 million). This plan will focus on the north-
eastern region of the country. The hygiene sector gets
a boost with a reduction in basic customs duties on the
manufacture of adult diapers to 5 per cent with 6 per
cent countervailing duty (CVD). There will be no spe-
cial CVD.
Aramid yarns and fabrics are exempt from basic cus-
toms duties. Automatic shuttle-less looms that can be
used for technical fabrics are exempt from the 5 per cent
basic customs duty.
Further, the medical devices sector gets a Budget
boost with the basic customs duty reduced to 2.5 per
cent with concessional CVD of 6 per cent on raw mate-
rials and components used for the manufacture of medi-
cal disposable items and instruments. Raw materials in
the manufacture of coronary stents and heart valves are
fully exempt from basic customs duty and CVD.
The Budget estimates the GDP growth for the year
2011-12 ended on March 31 to be 6.9 per cent, which
is lower than the 8.4 per cent growth witnessed in the
preceding two years.
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By Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
Mr. Seshadri Ramkumar