Eastern UP exporters ask for Drawback on Silk
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President, FIEO Mr. Ganesh Kumar Gupta addressing the meet. On the dais, are from left, Mr. Arun Agrawal, Convenor, EUPEA; Dr. R.K.Dhawan, Chairman, FIEO(NR); Mr. Mukesh Agarwal, President, EUPEA; and Dr. Sumitra Chaudhary, Member, Economic Advisory Committee to PM. |
Exporters from the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh have asked for duty drawback on fabric and made up of Mulberry or Dupian Silk at Rs 450 per kg without any cap value. Exporters made this demand in a meeting with a team of duty drawback officials led by Dr Sumitra Chaudhary, Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. The meeting was organized by the Northern Region office of FIEO in association with Eastern UP Exporters Association and Carpet Export Promotion Council at Varanasi on 8th June. The duty drawback officials who joined the meeting included Mr. S. B. Mohapatra, Secretary to the Government of India (Retd), Mr. T. R. Rustagi, Chief Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise (Retd.) and Mr. P. K. Mohanty, Joint Secretary (Drawback), Ministry of Finance.
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Sharing the view of textile and carpet exporters from Varanasi, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Gopiganj and adjoining areas who joined the meeting, FIEO President Mr. Ganesh Kumar Gupta said that a large number of exporters were availing duty drawback scheme to neutralize the incidence of duty suffered by them on export merchandise. He, however, added that the exporters suffered from various tax incidences levied at different stages from production to actual export other than customs and central excise duties which were taken into consideration for drawback. He said that the officials should look beyond the drawback framework to see how exporters could be made competitive vis-à-vis their counterparts in other countries. |
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A view of the participants. |
Northern Region Chairman of FIEO, Dr R. K. Dhawan during his address pointed out how the exporting community had lost about Rs 46,000 crore due to appreciation of the rupee by almost 15% in the last one year. He raised the alarm that if the rupee continued to harden unabated, then it would be difficult and daunting for the exporting community to achieve the export target of USD 160 billion set by the Commerce Minister. He warned that the global economic environment was getting more competitive day by day, and if the rupee rise was not checked in time, then the country might lose its fair share of global market in favour of other competing countries and the process might be irreversible.
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Mr. Mukesh Arawal, President, EUPEA echoed the concerns of Dr. Dhawan and said that due to strengthening of rupee, the export of main products from the region i.e. textiles, carpets and handicrafts were being seriously hit and moving southward. He also drew the attention of the officials towards deficient infrastructure of the region which is known worldwide for its handicrafts, silk textiles and hand knotted carpets. |
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Dr. R K Dhawan addressing the meet. On the dais, Mr. Mukesh Agarwal; Mr. Ganesh Kumar Gupta; Dr. Sumitra Chaudhary; Mr. S B Mohapatra, Former Secy. to GOI and Member, Drawback Team; Mr. T.R. Rustagi, Member, Drawback Team; and Mr. P K Mohanty, Jt. Secy. (Drawback) |
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Tirupur Knitwear Industry Needs More Facilities Even though the garment industry has in recent years been unshackled from the growth limiting factors such as SSI reservation and high tax burden in the manmade fibre value chain, a clutch of apparel manufacturing hubs in the country are yet to fully benefit from the freer environment, owing to a host of policy constraints. A case in point is the Tirupur knitwear industry. Despite making giant strides by touching the Rs. 11,000 crore mark on the export front in 2006-07, Tirupur’s knitwear industry is still plagued by changes, besides power, environmental and infrastructure impediments. Of course, the state and central governments have supported the units in the effluent discharge crisis by granting aid in the proposed Marine Discharge system. The industry, however, thinks that is not enough. A cross-section of exporters spoke to expert tax abolition and state – initiated infrastructure development to give a fillip to their business. The industry also wants the Centre to extend its employment guarantee programme to cover the garment industry. "We have the potential to offer jobs for a minimum of 200 days in a year against the govern-ment’s programme of assuring 100 days of work in a year and the wages could even be higher at Rs. 70 per day", Mr. S Sethival, Executive Secretary, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) told. The imposition of fringe benefit tax and the increase in education cess from 2 to 3 on all taxes would inflate the cost of products which in turn would affect the competitiveness of garment exports industry, sources say. The industry stakeholders have also requested the Tamil Nadu Government to from a State Export Promotion Board to boost exports. "Export plays major role in the industrial and economic developments of the State. In view of the trends in the global market, in line with Foreign Trade Policy of the Centre, State should also have a separate policy to help exporters, "Mr. A Sakthival, President, TEA and Vice President, FIEO, added. Exporters are also pinning their hopes on the State’s plan to upgrade Tirupur into a Municipal Corporation. This will augment its financial resources and help in getting more external funds for infrastructure development. Tamil Nadu Government has also accepted, in principle, the demand to make Tirupur a district. It has been announced in the current year’s State budget that creation of new districts will be done after completing the delimitation process for parliamentary and legislative assemblies. In the wake of knitwear industry growing by leaps and bounds and everyone here blaming the State Government for not providing adequate infrastructure, Finance Minister Mr. K Anbazhagan’s announcement in the State budget came as a big relief to exporters. The announcement was a long due and is expected to bring a lasting solution to infrastructure miseries. As a district, it will have more administrative powers and also get more funds. According to sources, the proposed district will comprise, along with Tirupur Municipal Corporation, two recently upgraded municipalities – Nallue and Velampalayam – and eight village panchayats, all considered as an extension of Tirupur. It will be spread across 199.06 sq. km with a population of over 5.5 lakh. Tirupur is also expected to get a Police Commissionerate soon. The district status with upgraded infrastructure will go a long way in making it a world-class city to attract more global players and buyers. It will help exporters showcase their products in international format and obtain ordersn (Source: Hosiery Report, 16-31 May 2007) |
