Indian textile bodies Tirupur Exporter’s Association (TEA) and Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) have welcomed the hike of import duties on textile, apparels, fibres and related products with effect from July 16, 2018.
Basic Customs Duty has been hiked ranging from 10 to 20 per by the government to protect textile industry and employment.
Now, textile products being imported from countries like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka will face the heat. Hike in import duty would impact 24 knitted apparel categories, 24 woven apparel categories, 10 categories of carpet, 6 nonwovens categories, 3 categories of laminated fabric, 2 knitted fabric, 2 categories of woven fabric, 2 categories of made-ups and 3 other categories.
RMG import increased from Rs.3,994 Crore in 2016-17 to Rs.4,983 Crore in 2017-18. Additionally, leading India retail stores also started importing from Bangladesh and other countries due to availability of cheaper products.
CITI Chairman Sanjay Jian thanked the government for addressing the issue of rising imports of textile and apparel goods.
The positive move taken by the government has brought a big relief to already struggling garment and carpet manufacturers, who have been facing the heat post GST.
Textile and apparel products worth US$ 7 billion were imported by India in 2017-18. The imports have grown from US$ 6 billion in 2016-17 at a rate of 16 per cent.
However, Jain is still skeptical about imports from Bangladesh as there is full exemption of Basic Customs Duty and hence it is a gateway for Chinese fabric entering India duty free.
CITI Chairman is still hopeful that government would address the unresolved issues of the textile sector to make it globally competitive.
On the other hand, hike in import duty would cost little more on pockets of those who love to wear international brands. Burberry, Chanel, Fendi and Gucci will be among major foreign brands to be hit most, as they do sell garments in India made in other manufacturing hubs.
