The Government has
increased the rate of Duty Credit Scrips issued under the Merchandise Exports
from India Scheme (MEIS) from 2% to 4%. The Government has also notified the
post GST rates of RoSL (Scheme for Rebate of State Levies) on Export of Garments
and Made ups vide Ministry of Textiles Notification dated 24.11.2017. The RoSL
rate for Cotton made ups have been increased from 1.55% to 2.20%.
Welcoming both these measures, Shri Ujwal
Lahoti, Chairman of The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL)
said, “The increase in the MEIS entitlement and RoSL rate has come as a huge
relief for exporters from the made ups sector who are currently passing through
difficult times.” Shri Lahoti pointed out that Made ups is a labour intensive
sector and any encouragement to this sector will have a positive impact on the
entire value chain of Cotton textiles.
The Chairman, TEXPROCIL also urged the
Government to include Cotton yarn under the MEIS and increase the MEIS on
cotton fabrics from 2% to 4%. Shri Lahoti pointed out that while every other
segment in the textile value chain including Manmade fibre spun yarn have been
provided with the MEIS benefits, cotton yarn has been excluded for some
inexplicable reason, even though it was included in the Focus Market Scheme
(FMS), Incremental Export Incentive Scheme under the earlier Foreign Trade
Policy.
Presently, Shri Lahoti pointed out that there are no benefits extended to
export of cotton yarn under the Foreign Trade Policy. Shri Lahoti further
stated that the spinning sector with its huge investments is presently passing
through difficult times and is losing market share to Vietnam and Indonesia due
to increasing costs. Withdrawal of the export incentives for cotton yarn has
reduced India’s competitive edge as Indian prices have increased by 5-6%.
Increase in exports of cotton yarn will benefit not only the spinning sector
but also the cotton farmers and the value added segments of fabrics and
made-ups/garment, he added.
As regards Fabrics, Shri Lahoti pointed out that
the strength of any country in garment exports lies in the competitiveness of
the fabric sector. The Fabric sector also employs around 17.8 million people
and is the largest employer in the complete textile value chain.Shri Lahoti stated
that in spite of the availability of raw material and labour force, India has a
share of only 6% in world fabric exports against China’s share of 51%.In view of the vast potential for India to
increase its textile exports, Shri Lahoti appealed to the Government to take an
integrated approach towards incentivizing exports and extend MEIS to cotton
yarn and increase the MEIS on cotton fabrics from 2% to 4%.
Source: SME Times, India Friday, 01 December 2017