Under the banner of ONE INDUSTRY, ONE VOICE, the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) and 14 prominent garment trade associations from all over India convened as a Group of Associations and unanimously passed a resolution to submit to the Group of Ministers (GoM) to drop a proposal to change the GST rates in the garment sector and keep the current structure of 5 per cent and 12 per cent.
The key recommendations of the group are to give up on the proposed change to the GST rate. Creation of a unique Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program tailored to the apparel industry. To guarantee that MSME’s are regarded as secured creditors in the event of insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings against major corporations, the Government must create a policy. Correcting Section 43B(h) for Equal Opportunity Among MSMEs by removing the clause, extending the regulation to the Medium Segment, guaranteeing equal development prospects, or implementing a phased payment term reduction: 90 days in Y1, 60 days in Y2, and 45 days in Y3. Finally, similar to the assistance given to the export sector, it is recommended that an interest subsidy be implemented for the domestic garment industry.
It is encouraging that all of the major associations have united under the Group of Associations to address these issues and provide a single voice for the sector, said Santosh Katariya, President of the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), in a statement following the meeting.
The other prominent associations for the garment and textile trade were the Gujarat Garment Manufacturing Association (GGMA) in Ahmedabad, the Sholapur Garment Manufacturers Association (SGMA) in Maharashtra, the Garment Exporters Association of Rajasthan (GEAR) in Jaipur, the Bangalore Apparel Manufacturers Association (BAMA) in Bengaluru, the South India Garment Association (SIGA) in Bengaluru, the Knitwear & Apparel Manufacturers Association of Ludhiana (KAMAL) in Ludhiana, the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) in Tirupur, the Karnataka Innerwear Association (KIA) in Bengaluru, the Karnataka Hosiery & Garment Association (KAMAL) in Ludhiana, the Woollen Garment Manufacturers Association in Ludhiana, the Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA) in Surat, the Indore Readymade Vastra Vyapari Sangh (IRVVS) in Madhya Pradesh, the Gujarat Garment Manufacturing Association (GGMA) in Ahmedabad, and the Noida Apparel Exporters Cluster (NAEC) in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, and others.
