High EU tariffs on textile imports from India is hurting our export potential, UP MSME and Export Promotion Minister Sidharth Nath Singh has said.
By VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT
LUCKNOW, Sep 18 (The CONNECT) - Uttar Pradesh, which is working on a blueprint to emerge as an Asian textile hub, has urged the Centre to facilitate the removal of trade barriers for Indian apparel shipments to lucrative markets such as the European Union (EU), including the UK.
Indian textile imports in these countries attract higher tariffs in comparison to Asian peers mainly Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia, who enjoy even zero tariffs.
“Due to high tariffs on Indian textile exports, our pricing is about 10 percent higher compared to our competitors. This is hurting our export potential,” UP MSME and export promotion minister Sidharth Nath Singh has said.
The UP government will write to union commerce and textile minister Piyush Goyal seeking his earnest intervention to support the domestic exporters’ cause.
With a share of 13.24 percent, UP is currently ranked third in domestic textile production. In recent years, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia have emerged as top textile exporters. Now, the Yogi Adityanath government is planning to up the ante on the textile export front by setting up integrated textile hubs and providing marketing support to industry.
In 2020, India’s textile exports clocked US$29.61 billion compared to the shipments of Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia in the corresponding year at $37.95 billion, $37.10 billion and $7.77 billion respectively.
“High tariffs faced by Indian exporters in key markets such as the EU and the UK as compared to zero duty access given to competing nations like Bangladesh and Cambodia are affecting India’s exports performance,” union minister of state for textile Darshana Jardosh had said in Parliament on July 30, 2021.
Meanwhile, to compete with the textile exporting hubs in Asia, the UP government has already proposed to develop a mega Textile Park at Noida. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has allotted a 150-acres plot for the Rs 8,300 crore project. About 152 companies are expected to set up their units at the Park, which is estimated to create 500,000 jobs.
UP is home to about 2,58,000 handloom and 5,50,000 power loom weavers. The State has 58 spinning mills and 74 textile mills.
The share of UP in carpet production is a dominant 90 percent even as the textile and garment sector is the second largest employment sector after agriculture.
