Hon’ble Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal inaugurated SIMA Texfair 2022, 13th edition in its series, an international textile machinery, spares, accessories & services exhibition conducted by the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) at CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex, Coimbatore, on 25th June, 2022. In his inaugural address, Shri Piyush Goyal has highly appreciated the invention capabilities and entrepreneurial skills of Tamilnadu especially the twin cities, viz., Coimbatore and Tirupur. He stated that Tamilnadu would become the largest hub for textiles, pumps, wet grinders, critical components manufacturing, etc., in the world and boost the economic growth of the Nation.
Shri Goyal highlighted the various policy initiatives taken by the Government and the hard work put in by the industry to achieve 440 billion US dollars exports. He stated that the country would reach 30 trillion economy from the level of 3 trillion economy very soon and the government has been aggressively addressing all the structural issues including the tariff barriers, issues in taxation, global competitiveness, etc. He advised all the stakeholders in the value chain to strive hard, stand united and thereby become the largest manufacturing country in the world. He invited all the young and women entrepreneurs to come forward to make investments and contribute for the growth of the Nation.
Shri Goyal reiterated the capability of India to become the second largest manufacturer of PPE kits that not only protected the people of the Nation, frontline workers, but also helped several countries through exports. He stated that India could manufacture PPE kits with highest quality at an affordable price. He appreciated the contribution made by the South India Textile Research Association in various R&D activities and also the lead role played in manufacturing, testing and certifying PPE kits. He assured extending necessary support to strengthen the R&D activities of SITRA.
Shri Piyush Goyal has highly appreciated the efforts taken by SIMA in organizing the Texfair event with world-class standards and providing opportunities for several hundreds of MSME manufacturers to develop import substitution and enhance the competitiveness of the Indian textile industry. He advised the textile machinery and spares manufacturers to achieve 100% self-sufficiency by manufacturing all the machinery from ginning to garmenting indigenously. He also appreciated the efforts taken by CITI, SIMA and export promotion council for guiding the industry and government in resolving various issues and also enhancing the global competitiveness.
In his Guest of Honour address, Dr. L. Murugan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, portrayed numerous policy initiatives taken by the NDA Government led by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. He stated when the entire world was reeling under grave recession due to the ill-effects of COVID pandemic, the unique policy measures taken by the Union Government could not only make the country to fight the war against Corana, but also to achieve a record export 440 billion USD. He also reiterated the initiatives taken by the Government to stabilize the cotton prices by removing 11% import duty on cotton and also allocation of one textile park for Tamilnadu.
Mr. R. Gandhi, Hon’ble Minister for Handlooms & Textiles, in his address, appreciated the support extended by the Union Government, especially Hon’ble Minister of Textiles for the growth of the handlooms and textile industry in Tamilnadu, especially the removal of 11% import duty on cotton. He requested to allocate more funds for the growth of the industry in Tamilnadu. He highlighted the various policy initiatives taken by the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Mr. M.K. Stalin for the growth of textile industry and retain Tamilnadu as the numero one State in the country. Mr. Gandhi also thanked the Union Government for allocating one PM MITRA park for Tamilnadu.
In his Guest of Honour address, Mr. R. Sakkarapani, Hon’ble Minister Food & Civil Supplies, highlighted the contribution made by Tamilnadu in terms of GDP, industrial production, exports especially by MSME clusters in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode and Dindigul. He requested Union Textile Minister to resolve the cotton crisis, provide necessary funding support for cotton development across the country and also expedite conclusion of FTAs with EU and other countries.
In his address, Mr. K. Annamalai, President, BJP, Tamilnadu, has reiterated that proactive initiatives taken by the Government to mitigate the ill-effects of COVID-19 and also the unprecedented price increase of cotton and cotton yarn faced by the cotton textile value chain. He also highlighted the policy initiatives taken for strengthening the competitiveness of MSME segments.
Mr. T. Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, briefed about the continuous efforts made by Shri Piyush Goyal for making Indian textiles & clothing industry to achieve 44.2 billion dollars exports during the year 2021-22 despite unprecedented challenges, a record growth in the history of textile industry. He stated that under the leadership of Shri. Piyush Goyal, the industry would be in a position to grow leaps and bounds. He pointed out the formation of Textile Advisory Group under the Chairmanship of Shri Suresh Kotak, a senior most expert and veteran in cotton, who has already formed two Sub-Committees to augment cotton production and improve seed technology in the country.
Mr. Ravi Sam, Chairman, SIMA, appreciated and thanked the Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Union Minister of Textiles for taking several path breaking policy initiatives and enhancing the global competitiveness, foster the growth of the textiles and clothing industry and made the industry to create a record of achieving 44.2 billion US dollars during the year 2021-22 despite unforeseen challenges posed by COVID pandemic. He stated that certain policies like removal of anti-dumping duty on MMF and its raw materials, refund of embedded taxes through RoSCTL / RoDTEP, unique policy measures announced for MSMEs including the relaxation of eligibility criteria, production linked incentive scheme, PM MITRA scheme, etc., fueled the growth of the industry.
Mr. Ravi Sam has also thanked the Hon’ble Chief Minister & Hon’ble Minister for Handlooms & Textiles, Mr. R. Gandhi and the Government of Tamilnadu for removing the Agricultural Market Committee Fee on cotton and cotton waste that prevailed since 1959, creating a separate Textile Department with dedicated Commissionerate to fuel the growth of textile industry in Tamilnadu and also announcing a Scheme for sustainable cotton mission in Tamilnadu.
Dr. S.K. Sundararman, Deputy Chairman, SIMA, while proposing the vote of thanks, highlighted unique policy measures and time-bound actions taken by Shri Piyush Goyal for the textile industry.