Knitters seek hike in import duty on man-made fibres

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 23

Perturbed over rising imports of man-made fibre textiles from China due to lower import duty, Ludhiana-based knitters will meet Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal tomorrow so that the matter could be taken up in next GST Council meeting. The manufacturers want higher import duty on man-made fibre textiles so that the domestic industry doesn’t suffer.

Ludhiana is a hub of knitwear industry in Punjab, having around 5,000 units with a majority of them in the MSME sector.

“After the implementation of GST, the import duty on man-made fibres has fallen from a cumulative 28.5% (including basic custom duty, countervailing duty, special additional duty, education cess) to about 15.3% (including basic custom duty, education cess and Integrated Goods and Service Tax). Thus, the import has become cheaper by about 13.2%. In addition to this, China, which is the major exporter to India (having 90% market share) provides drawback/incentive of 18% on man-made textile exports. As a result, major fabric import is being done from China, affecting the domestic industry. We have suggested imposing dumping duty on import of man-made fibres as a step to protect the domestic industry,” said Ajit Lakra, president, Ludhiana knitters Association.

Most man-made fibre yarns and their raw materials attract anti-dumping duties. He said there was a serious gap in import tariff structure wherein there is specific duty on most types of fabrics. But there is no such specific duty on chapter 60 which comprises knitted fabrics.

Lakra said these changes need to be done with immediate effect otherwise the industry will be in doldrums.