India’s textile and apparel industry is the most negatively impacted among the nations that produce textiles. This is because the country faces significant challenges in obtaining raw materials, including cotton and synthetic fibres, and has seen a sharp rise in power costs in the majority of the states that manufacture textiles, said K.V. Srinivasan, the president of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF).
In a press release, Srinivasan stated that “immediate policy action is needed to ensure smooth supply of raw material at an internationally competitive rate by addressing Quality Control Order (QCO) issues and price issues pertaining to PTA, MEG, Polyester, and Viscose and ensure a level playing field by removing 11 per cent import duty on cotton.”
Since raw materials had a significant negative influence on the MMF value chain, the Government ought to have started imposing the QCOs from finished items instead.
He further said that as the industry struggled with surplus capacity, the substantial incentives that various State Governments in the nation were offering for new investments were undermining the competitiveness of existing capabilities and rendering them unviable.
India, the world’s second-largest producer of raw materials, was unable to capitalise on this advantage while export development was exponential in nations without a raw material foundation, such Bangladesh and Vietnam. He noted that Indian exports have been flat at US $ 35 billion for almost ten years.