Revival of Textile Industry after Covid

The global pandemic of Covid-19 affected various industrial sectors in the country including the textile sector. The government has taken following initiatives/ measures to help ameliorate the conditions in textile sector to boost production, marketing and job opportunities in the sector on pan-India:

i. In order to make the textile sector competitive by rebating all taxes/levies in international market, the Government has decided to continue the RoSCTL (Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies) scheme until such time the RoSCTL scheme is merged with Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme. For this purpose, the Government has approved adhoc allocation of funds of Rs. 7398 crore for FY 2020-21 for issuance of duty credit scrips under RoSCTL scheme.

ii. Further, in order to boost exports in MMF sector, Government has removed anti-dumping duty on PTA (Purified Terephtallic Acid), a key raw material for the manufacture of MMF fibre and yarn and also on Acrylic fibre, a raw material for yarn and knitwear industry.

iii. The Government has announced a special economic package viz. AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan for boosting economy of the country and making India self-reliant. Relief and credit support measures have been announced for various sectors. The weavers & artisans of textile sector can avail benefits of these relief and credit support measures to revive their businesses which have suffered due to lock down necessitated by Covid-19 pandemic.

iv. Textile and garment manufacturers all over the country contributed to the growth of PPE industry and India became globally the second largest manufacturer of PPEs. As per estimates based on inputs provided by the industry, the country has manufactured nearly 6 crore PPE body coveralls and 15 crore N-95 masks during April to December 2020 period (as per data available). Nearly 1100 manufacturers had registered for PPE Body Coveralls and more than 200 manufacturers for N-95 mask manufacturing. The average market size of this newly created industry is around Rs. 7000 crores.

v. Union Budget 2021-22 announcements include launch of the scheme of setting up mega investment textile parks. Seven mega textile parks will be set up in next three years. These parks will enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investment and boost employment generation. The scheme will enable creation of global champions in exports.

vi. The Production Linked Investment scheme of Rs 10,683/- crore over a five-year period covering MMF and Technical Textiles sector has been announced which will create global champions in exports and domestic production in textile sector will also grow substantially.

This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani in Lok Sabha on 19 March 2021.