Centre to address rupee hit textile cos’ woes: PM

Acknowledging that the rupee appreciation has created some problems for exporters, the government today assured...

Acknowledging that the rupee appreciation has created some problems for exporters, the government today assured the textile industry that it would addressing all its legitimate concerns to generate more employment. “I am aware that the strengthening of the rupee has created some strains for our exporters,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) today.

He said that the government would come forward and address all legitimate concerns of the textile industry as long as “we can work together to generate more employment”. However, the Prime Minister exuded confidence that the textile sector has the enterprise and business acumen to deal with the challenges posed by the rupee appreciation and to improve its competitiveness.

“Here too we have taken steps to help mitigate the laws of competitive advantage while ensuring that our external economic management is stable and sustainable.” he said. Singh said that with the dismantling of the multi-fibre agreement (MFA), there is a new opportunity, but “we must make up for lost time”.

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“I assure you that our government will be there to help you because I do believe that the textile sector has a strategic role in our industrial economy,” he said. New growth areas like technical textiles will be actively promoted, he said, adding, “I have already made clear our intention to launch a technology mission and technical textiles to support growth in this area.”

He said that the challenge in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12) is to increase the skill base to make the sector competitive. “We need innovative responses to increasing jobs in our country and the textile industry, which has great potential to generate new jobs, has been suggesting this idea of linking guaranteed employment for a certain number of days in a policy framework that can respond adequately to the genuine demands of the sector,” the Prime Minister said.

Singh said that his government has focused on ensuring a stable policy environment, supporting modernisation through financing technology upgradation, and building global brands for Indian textiles to make the industry globally competitive, especially in the post-multi-fibre agreement regime. He added that the textile industry will be one of the major beneficiaries of a consumption boom due to the Budget proposals, which will leave more disposable income in the hands of the masses.

Elaborating on the fiscal steps taken by the government to strengthen the textile sector, the Prime Minister said that the excise duty structure has been completely revised with large-scale concessions. Customs duties for a number of textile machinery items have been reduced and hosiery and knitwear items have been dereserved from the small-scale sector.