Invited as the chief guest, Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister of Textiles and Women and Child Development, spoke about the various issues plaguing the cotton textile sector and assured that they would soon be resolved
The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) celebrated the achievements of its member exporters at an annual awards function hosted at the ITC Hotel Grand on January 16, 2020. TEXPROCIL is the first export promotion council set up in India in the year 1954 and is responsible for promoting exports of cotton textiles. Every year the council recognises the role played by exporters by presenting awards in different categories. This year the council distributed 58 awards in 32 different categories, including the coveted Platinum Trophy for the highest global exports.
Recognising the role played by MSME units in India and given that the growth of MSMEs is one of the many thrust areas of the government, TEXPROCIL also added an award for the highest employment generated by MSME units this year. Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister of Textiles and Women and Child Development, was the chief guest at the event.
While congratulating the award winners, Dr. K.V. Srinivasan, Chairman, TEXPROCIL, in his opening remarks stated that the exports of textiles and clothing were severely affected by global situations like the trade conflict of US with China, EU’s struggle with Brexit, the growing geo-political tensions in the Middle East and the removal of GSP benefits by the US.
Against the backdrop of these challenges, the Chairman thanked the government for taking the initiative in recognising the incidence of State and Central Tax Levies and their impact on the competitiveness of exported textile goods by announcing the new Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products Scheme, which he hoped will address the issues of duties and taxes suffered by the entire value chain. The Chairman also lauded the Minister for her personal efforts to get the gazette notification of March 7, 2019, announcing the Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies on export products for garments and made-ups implemented vide notification dated January 14, 2020.
Dr. Srinivasan also requested the Minister to consider the cotton textiles sector as a value chain in continuum, mentioning that any attempt to selectively grant incentives to certain segments of the value chain leads to unintended distortions and consequences. A case in point is the systematic exclusion of cotton yarn from the package of incentives since 2014, he added. He further reiterated that cotton yarn also bears the same incidence of State and Central Levies as in the case of made-ups and garments and added that cotton yarn should be covered under the remission scheme and the Merchandise Export from India Scheme and should also be covered under the 3% Interest Equalization Scheme.
The Chairman concluded by thanking the minister for her personal intervention in various matters relating to the progress and growth of the industry. S. Kalyanram, General Manager (SME), State Bank of India, then addressed the gathering on the significance and importance of the relationship between banks and exporters and highlighted the facilities provided for MSMEs.
Minister Smriti Zubin Irani then distributed the awards. In her address, she said that with the growth of textile industry lies the growth of India and also thanked the SBI for being a part of the ceremony and supporting the industry since bankers play an important role in textile and clothing exports.
She said that the textile industry has made India proud through its achievements only because of the commitment and dedication of the current and earlier generations. She was also in agreement with the many issues pointed out by the chairman in his welcome address. Addressing the issues related to the cotton procurement and auction process, the Minister promised speedy resolutions through honouring commitments and selling the fibre at competitive prices rather than following the current practice of purchasing and stocking by the Competition Commission of India.
The Minister also assured the industry that she would continue to pursue the matter of bringing the hank yarn obligation down further from the current percentage of production. She mentioned that in the new Mission on Cotton, she will explore ways of replicating the success of Community Resource Development Association which is presently benefiting about 170,000 farmers. She said that the industry should make farmers their partners and along with gainful employment for women the sector should look at quadrupling its exports. She promised that the Ministry would also stand shoulder to shoulder with the industry in these efforts.
In her speech, the Minister requested the Chairman of TEXPROCIL to provide hand-holding support to smaller companies so that they may reach the level of medium-sized enterprises. In conclusion, she expressed her appreciation of TEXPROCIL leading from the front and said that various organisations should join hands with the Ministry of Skill Development to prepare a paper on mechanising the cotton picking methods in order to reduce contamination and assured the full support of the Ministry of Textiles towards this effort.
The vote of thanks was proposed by Manoj Patodia, Vice Chairman, TEXPROCIL.