Recovering from an an all-time low, the Indian apparel and garment industry has shown signs of recovery, owing to depreciation in rupee, informed the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).
The sector had seen a major low due to the implementation of Goods and Services Tax, demonetisation and high price of cotton. CITI Chairman Sanjay Jain said, “In the financial year 2018, the imports of textiles and apparel have touched US $ 7 billion, which is 16 per cent higher than the last year value of US $ 6 billion.” The embedded duties, ranging from 4-6 per cent, across the apparel value chain are not refunded, making it one of the factors for the decline in the export, apart from the GST refund.
He cited that the need of the hour is Free Trade Agreements with countries like EU, Canada, Australia, and Britain to compete with countries like Pakistan, Vietnam and Bangladesh. In addition, there is an urgent need of policy support by the government to stop excess import and refund of duties and taxes on export.
Imports of textile, mainly fabrics and yarns, have touched the mark US $ 7 Billion, 16 per cent higher than the last financial year. The garments are imported from the countries India has Free Trade Agreement with. Jain said, “The rules of origin should be specified for garment exports.”
For past three-four years, the export industry has been on a low and the government is trying to work out the Refund of State Levies (ROSL) and drawback rates for which announcements are shortly expected. This coupled with the depreciation of rupee will result in a push to export market.
