'Man-made fibre imports hurting domestic textile industry'

Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) Chairman Mr. Sanjay Jain has stated that the continuous rise of man-made fibre (MMF) imports, especially after GST implementation, is deeply hurting the domestic textile industry.

MMF is an important segment of the Indian textile and clothing industry and it has made substantial investment to enhance its capacity building to meet the desired target of $350-bn market by 2025, he said.

Based on CITI analysis, Mr. Jain observed that there is an increase in imports of all the MMF products post-GST, however, there is a substantial increase in imports of MMF yarn and apparel at 83% and 84%, respectively. The main reason for the same being the removal of CVD post GST, which overnight made imports 12%+ cheaper. Import duty on fabrics and garments was subsequently increased by the government to control imports. “The imports of fabrics have been relatively under control, but due to FTAs import of garments could not be controlled by this measure,” he said.

Mr. Jain further pointed out that polyester based products have the highest share in Indian MMF textiles. Imports of polyester yarn in India have increased by a CAGR of about 13% since 2014-15 to reach $95-mn in 2018-19.