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A gloomier outlook
The much-awaited top-level meeting
convened by the Commerce, Industry and
Textiles Minister, Mr. Anand Sharma, to
discuss with industry leaders the general
slowdown hitting all sectors, particularly
textiles, turned out to be a routine session in
which he just reiterated the need for greater
Government-industry co-operation to work
out a joint strategy to end the crisis, and did
nothing else. Of course, he did admit that the
US slowdown and the Euro-zone debt crisis
did impact industrial growth and exports of
economies around the world, including In-
dia. Based on his earlier statement that the
Government had fixed an export target of
$33 billion for the textile sector next year against the current year’s $28
billion, textile circles did expect the Minister to come out with some con-
crete proposal for the industry revival, but were disappointed.
Textiles, the biggest exchange earner for the country and the largest
employment provider, next only to the Railways, is considered a priority
sector. In fact, the Government has set up six high-level inter-ministerial
committees with representatives from different ministries and departments,
including the Planning Commission, to review the industry performance.
The reason why Mr. Sharma couldn’t announce a clear-cut policy approach
for the industry at the meeting is perhaps his realisation that it is most
difficult to initiate anything positive when the economy is in the grip of
uncertainties.
There is growing concern over the general industrial slump. Industrial
growth slowed to 5.1 per cent in October this year compared with a ro-
bust expansion of 11.3 per cent in the same month in 2010. Export growth
dipped to 44.25 per cent in August and to 10.8 per cent in October from a
high of 82 per cent in July. In highly volatile trading, the rupee is now rul-
ing at a low of 54.30 to a dollar. Rupee value stabilisation is very remote
considering the continued withdrawal of FDI and investors turning towards
the dollar following the debt crisis faced by European countries. With the
Opposition grilling the Government on various issues and political parties
shifting allegiances at the central level, managing the economy is indeed
an uphill task for the Manmohan team. The future of the economy is really
grim.
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The Textile Magazine
DECEMBER 2011
nd
Anniversary
ed i t i on
R. Natarajan,
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TEXTILE MAGAZINE
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