The textile and clothing industry, which employs nearly 60 lakh people in Tamil Nadu, has demanded availability of raw materials at competitive prices for the industry.
“Raw material, labour, and power are the three major costs for textile units,” said S.K. Sundararaman, chairman of the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA).
The SIMA chairman, who met the new Union Textile Minister, Giriraj Singh, recently, told presspersons in Coimbatore on Tuesday that Indian cotton prices had remained almost stable this cotton season (October 2023 to September 2024). Yet, the Indian cotton prices were expensive compared with the international prices. The Indian cotton availability this season was expected to be 323 lakh bales, and imports would be about 12 lakh bales. The levy of 11% import duty on cotton had affected prices. Though the government removed the duty for Extra Long Staple (ELS) cotton recently, it should remove the duty completely when the peak arrivals end in India.
Similarly, the government recently relaxed Quality Control Order (QCO) norms for import of viscose and polyester fibres for export of value added products. It should grant complete QCO exemption for these fibres. These were two short-term measures that would give immediate relief to the industry.
The government should also take measures to improve cotton yield, introduce quality seeds, and promote high density planting so that farmers got better returns for cotton and the industry got raw material at competitive prices. This was a medium-term measure that the industry was demanding to strengthen the cotton textile value chain, he added.
According to Mr. Sundararaman, the Tamil Nadu government should not increase the power costs any further and should permit banking of wind energy generated. “Any further increase in electricity charges will kill the industry,” Mr. Sundararaman said.
The Association was talking to the Tamil Nadu government continually on this, he said.
Published - June 18, 2024 06:21 pm IST
