Business

Tamta Informs Upper House About Dip In Textile Exports

Indian textile and apparel exports faced a sharp dip in the 2017-18 season. The drop touched the INR 8000 crore mark. It stood at INR 2,330,056 crore. The steep decline was attributed to stiff competition from neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. These countries avail of preferential duty access in the Western and other markets. This was disclosed by Ajay Tamta, minister of state for textiles, in his written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The minister also responded to another query on the floor of the house stating that in the current cotton season that will conclude in September 2018, India is expected to ship 70 lakh bales of cotton. This amounts to a 20 percent increase over the previous season.

Tamta informed the house that 51.2 lakh bales were exported till April 30, 2018. However, there have been no targets set for cotton exports. He added, it won’t be advisable to frame a separate policy for cotton exports owing to dependencies in shipment of cotton. He explained that the dependencies included demand and supply situation and prevailing domestic prices in contrast to international prices.