Major textile bodies in the region on Friday appealed to the Centre to remove anti-dumping duty on Viscose Staple fibre (VSF) to create a level playing for the entire textile value chain. The removal of the duty will help a big section of MSMEs in their growth and the appeal was perfectly aligned with Atma Nirbhar Bharat Mission, Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) said in its representation to the Union Textile, Commerce and Finance Ministries.
In a release, Southern India Mills Association Chairman, Ashwin Chandran also sought the removal of the duty and said Indian Man Made Fibre (MMF) products account for 20 per cent of the total Textile and Clothing (T and C) exports, whereas, in China and other textile exporting countries it is 80 per cent.
According to him, India is not able to make any progress in MMF T&C exports due to the raw material price disadvantage despite being the second largest producer of MMF in the world. VSF is still given undue protection by way of anti-dumping duty that seriously affects the entire viscose staple fibre textile value chain, he alleged. Removing the duty on VSF will make the domestic VSF prices aligned with Global VSF prices making the entire Indian VSF textile value chain globally competitive and boost production and exports of these products, he said.
