Ludhiana Upset on China Circumvention of SAFTA

Responding to local MP Manish Tewari, the Union Minister for Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises, KH Muniyappa on 15 October assured that he would look into the measures to be taken so that the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) is not misused by countries like China which route their exports to India through SAARC countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh thus harming the local industry.

Tewari called for granting exemption from central excise duty to cycle and other light engineering manufacturers as had been granted to the hosiery and textile industry.

The Minister expressed his gratitude to Muniyappa for personally coming to learn about the problems being faced by Ludhiana industry.

The interaction had been organised at the behest of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.