Minister of textiles, Smriti Irani announced that made-ups and home textile segment is under consideration of being covered under the Rs.6,000 crore ‘Special Package’ recently approved for the garment sector, which had been excluded from its ambit. An announcement for the same is likely to be made around Diwali, added the minister in her address.

The minister further stated that the made-ups and home textile segment is equally, if not more labour-intensive than the apparel sector, and has the capability of generating sizeable new employment opportunities. At the same time, it will act as a pull factor for increased consumption of fibres, yarns and fabrics produced domestically.

“The ‘Special Package’ for the apparel sector is the right step given the current scenario of world trade and international competitiveness. The reimbursements of state and central levies along with labour reforms will strengthen the textile sector by improving its cost competitiveness in the global market, he added,” R K Dalmia, chairman of The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil) said.

Discussing trade relations with other countries, the chairman averred that the government needs to move fast to accelerate the negotiation of FTA’s with EU, Australia and Canada, while adding that high and discriminatory import duties on textiles sourced from India in major markets like China and Turkey also pose a challenge.

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