A group of textile entrepreneurs from Tirupur cluster and its hinterland called on State Industries Minister P. Thangamani for requesting the State Government to represent the grievances of the textile sector pertaining to cabotage rules and subsidy under Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) to Centre.
Prabhu Damodaran, secretary of the Texpreneur Forum which coordinated the pleas, told The Hindu that the present cabotage rule prevents the foreign vessels from carrying cargo from one Indian port to another even if the ship from abroad has adequate space left after off-loading certain quantity of cargo in one of the Indian ports en-route to another Indian port.
“These restrictions are hampering the transportation of raw materials like cotton from Gujarat via sea route as services by Indian vessels between one Indian port to another port are much lesser when compared to the foreign vessels shuttling between our ports. If cotton is transported instead by lorries, only smaller quantities can be forwarded and also the transportation costs goes up steeply,” he said.
The entrepreneurs have asked Mr. Thangamani and Secretaries in textile and industries Ministries in Tamil Nadu to make a representation to the Union Government to dilute the cabotage rules or at least relax the rules in the case of agricultural produces so that cotton, the main raw material for apparel production in Tirupur belt, could be comfortably transported.
“Presently, seven million bales of cotton (one bale if 170 kg) are forced to be transported through lorries due to inadequacies in ship transportation subsequent to the cabotage rules,” said Mr. Prabhu Damodaran. Another important issue for which the State Government support was sought to put pressure on the Centre has been the subsidies pending under TUFS.
“As of now, almost Rs. 1,500 crore worth of subsidies are pending disbursal in Tamil Nadu alone. If this was cleared, Tamil Nadu economy will boom,” industrialists pointed out.
The need for reducing the duties on manmade fibres was also stressed by the entrepreneurs to the Minister.
The cabotage rule prevents the foreign vessels from carrying cargo from one Indian port to another
