Ahead of the Union Budget, the Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC), Association of Synthetic Fibre Industries (ASFI) and Association of Manmade Fibre Industries (AMFI) has demanded reduction in excise duty on man-made fibres (MMF), according to an agency report. “We have urged the government to reduce excise duty on man-made fibres in line with growing neighbouring economies like China, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Thailand. “Backed by Ministry of Textiles and Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, all textile bodies in India have demanded reduction in the much needed relief to this industry,” they said in a joint statement. SRTEPC welcomed the changes announced by the Centre in duty drawback scheme, which will help boost exports. The Centre has notified certain changes in all industry rates of duty drawback effective from today. New entries in the drawback schedule have been created for cotton yarns mixed with Man Made Fibre (MMF) – both grey and dyed. It has also increased the drawback caps in the case of certain MMF fabrics. “We highly appreciate the step taken by Ministry of Finance. However, India’s exports of MMF textiles can increase to $10 billion from the present $6 billion if the excise duty on MMF, are reduced,” SRTEPC chairman Anil Rajvanshi said. On the 3 per cent interest equalisation scheme, Rajvanshi lauded the Centre for initiating necessary steps to implement the scheme smoothly. With regard to exports of man-made textiles, he said even though Indian man-made textiles products are preferred in international markets, these remain non-competitive in the world markets, owing to high burden of excise duty which has restricted the product development. Vietnam exports $27 billion worth of textiles, which are largely produced from man-made fibres. Despite having two of the world’s largest producers of man-made fibres in India, India’s exports of sportswear and leisurewear is not even 5 per cent of Vietnam’s.
