The slew of positive announcements made by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2019-20 will definitely help in inclusive development of the Indian economy and thereby the textile sector, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has said. The Government is targeting to make India a $5 trillion economy in the next few years. CITI chairman Sanjay K Jain welcomed the announcements made by the minister and congratulated her for presenting a holistic budget aiming to boost not only the overall economy but also to uplift the socio-economic conditions of the people of the country. The minister touched upon all the major aspects of the industry which can infuse confidence and growth in the Indian economy, such as, banking, infrastructure, logistics, power, farmer welfare schemes, etc, Jain said. He added that the formation of National Research Foundation is a positive and welcome step and this would lead to more constructive and focused R&D in textiles. In the present budget, the grant for textile and apparel sector is budgeted at ₹4,831.48 crore which is about 30.41 per cent lower than the previous year’s revised grant. It is mainly because of discontinuation of ROSL scheme from March 7, 2019. The new scheme called Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) which was announced simultaneously will be issued through free transferable scrips, Jain said. In terms of percentage change, maximum change in grant is for Integrated Wool Development Programme which has increased by about 447 per cent to ₹29 crore. In terms of value, maximum grant is for procurement of cotton by Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) under Price Support Scheme which is 118 per cent higher than the last year to stand at ₹2,017.57 crore. It also has maximum share of 42 per cent in overall grant for textiles. There has been a slight increase of about 12.4 per cent in Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS) which is budgeted at ₹700 crore. For Handicraft Development programme, grant has been increased by about 18.9 per cent to ₹286.17 crore. While for Silk and Jute industries, grant has been increased by 23.2 per cent to stand at ₹740 crore and ₹34.55 crore, respectively. Powerloom sector got an increase of 49.8 per cent in the total grant to value at ₹159.08 crore. Grant for Integrated Scheme for Skill Development has been increased by about 139.3 per cent to ₹100.5 crore as compared to ₹42 crore in the last year. CITI chairman pointed out that reduction in customs duty from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent on imports of raw material under 5101 & 5105 (Wool fibre & Wool tops) would help the textile industry. Likewise, reduction of duty on naphtha, a key raw material for synthetic fibres, from 5 per cent to 4 per cent, is also a welcome step.
