Ludhiana: Textile industry protests imports from Turkey, Bangladesh, China

Against the huge imports of textile, garment from countries such as China, Turkey and Bangladesh, the industries under the banner of Knitwear Club on Tuesday held a protest. About 100 representatives from the affected textile and garment industries participated in the protest, held outside Knitwear Club near Fountain Chowk here.

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Vinod Thapar, president of Knitwear Club, said: “Despite sending letters and memoranda, meeting VVIPs and ministers, the imports from these countries have not stopped by any government, the reason is best known to them. The government should realise that these countries openly supported Pakistan during the recent conflicts between India and Pakistan. If they are coming up openly against India, why are we promoting them at the cost of our own economy,” he asked.

Sudershan Jain, another bizmen, said India imports stocks worth Rs 1.2 billion from Bangladesh, which was putting a dent in the Ludhiana textile and garment industry. “Clusters in Tirpur, Mumbai or Delhi are not that affected as the industry in Ludhiana is affected. We cannot compete with these nations as they have got huge labour force. Bangladesh gets support from China and raw material is also cheaper there. These imports should either be banned or huge import duty should be imposed on them to give a relief to the local industry,”he said.

Meanwhile, industrialists also burnt garments made by China, Bangladesh and Turkey on the occasion and raised slogans against these nations for not supporting India.