New Delhi, Nov. 26 Close on the heels of the Union Textile Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran’s statement that his Ministry was not in favour of clamping any ban on export of raw cotton, the apex export organisation, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), has pleaded for quantitative curbs or ceilings on such exports to help the user industries such as garments and apparel.
In a statement issued here, the FIEO President, Mr A. Sakthivel, on Thursday appealed to the Government to allow 50 lakh bales of raw cotton for exports in a year with monthly ceiling of 4 lakh bales.
This will help the textiles and garment exporters maintain their export markets. This move will also help raw cotton exporters ensure regular export supply to maintain their markets and simultaneously ensure adequate supply of raw cotton at a reasonable price to the end-user domestic industry.
Mr Sakthivel said that export of readymade garments are declining and the main reason for this has been the out pricing of Indian garments by countries like China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Turkey, etc.
Moreover, India is being outpriced in international markets due to hike in raw cotton prices which has resulted in a 15-20 per cent increase in prices of woven cotton fabrics and a 10-15 per cent hike in cotton yarn prices, required for knitted garments.
Besides, exporters are apprehensive that the cotton prices will further increase as there are reports that nearly 20 lakh bales have been bought by traders for exports, President FIEO added.
Mr Sakthivel cautioned that the hike in prices will force spinning industry to close down many of their units/mills affecting weaving units as well as end-use consumers such as fabrics, made-ups and garments exporters, which will have serious implications for employment as textiles is the largest employment provider after agriculture.
Source : Business Line