Providing new lease of life to Banarasi silk.

VARANASI: The decision of the textile ministry to import 2,000 tons of high quality silk from China may be a welcome move, but weavers feel unless anti-dumping duty on finished Chinese fabrics is increased, they are not likely to get complete benefits. However, it is also being hoped that the decision will provide a new lease of life to the dying Banarasi silk industry (handloom sector).

Textile minister Dayanidhi Maran recently announced in the Parliament that India would import 2,000 tons of high quality silk from China and provide it to the weavers of famous silk centres in Kanchipuram and Varanasi. Earlier, the department of revenue had issued a notification (No. 80/2010-CUSTOMS), dated August 10, 2010, to allow duty free import of 2,500 MT of raw silk through the National Handloom Development Corporation ( NHDC) against certification by the ministry of textiles.

"It sounds good, but we have been listening to such announcements for the past five years. Nothing has come out so far," said Maqbool Hassan, a master weaver and chairman of the Handloom Weavers' Cooperative Society (HWCS). "We are not very optimistic but, if it does happen, it would really be a good thing for Banarasi silk industry," he told TOI on Saturday. "The National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) had also conducted a survey in the past. But, again, nothing has come out of it so far," he said.

"It would definitely be a boost to the silk industry, particularly the handloom sector," said another weaver Amresh Kushwaha, chairman of a handloom cluster- Banaras Hathkargha Vikas Samiti Producer Company. "But, the weavers would not get all the benefits until the anti-dumping duty on finished Chinese fabrics is increased," he pointed out.

But, for silk traders like Anjani Jhunjhunwala, the import of duty-free Chinese silk would bring no improvement in the condition of weavers and Banarasi silk industry. "The imported silk would be distributed by government agencies like the National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC), which would take their own charges for the service," said Jhunjhunwala, adding it would have been better for the weavers if traders were allowed to import silk. "If we want to save Banarasi silk industry, we will have to increase duty on Chinese fabric," he said. The traders claimed it was wrong to say that the Chinese silk was being smuggled through Bangladesh and Nepal. After the introduction of open general license (OGL) in 1998, the smuggling of Chinese silk was stopped, they said and added currently Chinese silk was being imported under OGL.

According to Jhunjhunwala, currently the Chinese silk (with 30 per cent duty) is sold at the rate of Rs 2,500 per kg in Varanasi. After duty free import, it will cost around Rs 2,100 per kg. According to records, the current production of raw silk in India is about 19,000 MT against a total demand of approximate 29,000 MT. The deficit is met by importing raw silk, mainly from China, at basic custom duty of 30 per cent.

The cheap Chinese silk fabric is causing a serious concern for the traditional handloom products of Banarasi silk industry. There is 30 per cent custom duty on raw silk (yarn) while only 10 per cent custom duty is on silk fabrics imported from China. In a written reply to a question in 2006, the then minister of state for textiles admitted that Banarasi saree industry had been adversely affected from the import of cheap Chinese fabric from China.

It may be mentioned here that a number of handloom weavers switched over to petty manual work due to slump in the silk industry. The trouble for Banarasi silk industry began in 1996 when the Deve Gowda Government imposed a ban on Chinese silk yarn imports. It led to smuggling of Chinese silk. Due to a need for Chinese yarn, the weavers demanded an open general license (OGL) to import Chinese silk.

Due to slump in the silk industry, about 60 per cent weavers abandoned their traditional occupation and either migrated to other cities in search of livelihoods as unskilled labourers or became rickshaw-pullers or brick-kiln workers. According to KP Verma, assistant director (handloom), "today, only 40,000 families in Varanasi and Chandauli districts are associated with handloom weaving. This figure was 1.25 lakh around 10 years back."

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com