New textile policy brings in Rs 3,800 cr investment The Hindu Business Line: October 22, 2012

Mumbai: The textile sector is on the upswing in Maharashtra due to the new textile policy. Since April, the State has managed to attract Rs 3,834 crore in investments in 411 new textile projects, said State Textile Minister Arif Naseem Khan on Monday.
Addressing the media after reviewing the process of policy implementation, Khan said that the new projects would provide about 30,000 jobs in the State. Most of the investment has happened in cotton spinning and ginning units. Textile companies are keen to set up units in Vidarbha, Marathwada and the Khandesh due to the ready supply of cotton, he said.
“Due to the policy, the sector is likely to get Rs 40,000 crore investment in the next five years and generate employment for 11 lakh people,” Khan said.
Khan said that the policy was not a single-window policy but a ‘zero-window policy,’ in which projects would not come to the Government for clearance,
The due diligence is done by banks. If a company manages to get its loan sanctioned under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme from banks, then it is eligible for subsidy, he said.
The Union Government initiated the Scheme in 1999, and it has attracted over Rs 4 lakh crore investments in the sector, as of date.
Textile Secretary Sunil Porwal said that all the 411 projects have achieved financial closure. For the Rs 3,834 crore investments, about Rs 400 crore will be the subsidy outgo spread over seven years.
The policy has been attracting investment because of the capital and interest subsidy component built into the scheme. Due to the zero-window policy, clearance is quick. Khan also added that 18 spinning mills are keen to set up their units in the State, which would attract Rs 2,000 crore in investments. However, since they don’t fit in the Scheme, their projects are awaiting approval from banks, he said.

Government clears three FDI proposals in single brand retail The Economic Times: October 19, 2012

New Delhi: The government on Friday gave permission to British footwear retailer Pavers England, US-based clothing company Brooks Brothers and Italian jeweller brand Damiani to set up stores in India under the single brand retail policy.
The Foreign Invstment Promotion Board (FIPB) also allowed construction and engineering major Larsen & Toubro to induct foreign investment in its defence production venture.The FIPB, the apex body for clearing foreign investment proposals, gave its go ahead to Pavers at its meeting chaired by Arvind Mayaram, secretary, department of economic affairs.The three retail ventures are expected to bring in FDI worth over Rs 106 crore. "It has been cleared," Mayaram said after the meeting. Pavers' intends to set up 100% -owned subsidiary and is the first company to apply and receive nod under the new regime for single-brand retail sector that permits foreign direct investment upto 100% in a retail venture but with conditions such as mandatory 30% domestic sourcing from India. The FIPB has allowed Brooks Brothers to invest Rs 6.22 crore in its recently announced 51:49 joint venture with Reliance Brands, a unit of Reliance Industries, and Italy's Damiani to set up a 51:49 joint venture with Mehta's Pvt Ltd, a finance ministry official said. At present, Pavers sells products through its Chennai-based master franchisee Triton Retail in 28 exclusive stores across India and also through retail outlets of Reliance Footprint, Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop and Westside. The government had revamped its single-brand retail policy in September making it easier for foreign retailers to comply with domestic sourcing norms. Pavers was the first foreign retailer to apply after the government in January notified its decision to raise FDI limit in single-brand retail from 51% to 100%. But, the proposal was delayed as the earlier norms allowed only the brand owner to set up shop in India. Under the new rules, the brand owner can licence out the brand to one single entity for opening stores in India.
Pavers' application was made by Pavers Foresight Smart Ventures, a $60-million equal joint venture between Pavers and the Foresight Group based in Mauritius.
Gujarat's new textile policy focuses on better price for cotton growers The Hindu Business Line: September 06, 2012

Gandhinagar: Focusing on “Farm-to-foreign” strategy, the Gujarat Government on Wednesday announced a new textile policy that assured cotton growers of best prices for their produce in India and overseas.
The Gujarat Textile Policy (GTP) 2012, Minister of State for Industries Saurabh Patel told presspersons, aims at attracting investments to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore and creating 25 lakh new job opportunities, 50 per cent of them for rural women, over the next five years.
The policy, considering a output increase from 23 lakh bales to 1.23 crore bales over the last 10 years, and the fibre’s high demand in China and Europe, emphasises n an integrated approach to value chain of “farm-to-fibre-to-fabric-to-fashion-to-foreign” and aims at sustainable growth of both farmers and industry. It covers industry verticals such as spinning, ginning, weaving, knitting, carpeting, dyeing and processing, garments and technical textiles.
He said under the new policy, the State Government would provide an interest subsidy of 5-7 per cent without ceiling for five years on new plants, power tariff concession of Re 1 a unit for five years, refund of VAT on purchase of raw materials and on expansion of existing and new units.
Financial assistance will be given towards skill development centres for textile industry, technological acquisition for value-chain, support for energy and water conservation and environmental compliance, and sales tax exemption and partial financial assistance to developers to encourage setting up of spinning and weaving parks around cotton growing areas.GTP 2012 aims at ensuring a better price realisation for Gujarat’s cotton growers in national and international markets, and value addition in the entire chain.
“The Centre bans export on raw cotton when international prices are the highest. It cost the Gujarat farmers dearly with a loss of Rs.14,000-crore during the outgoing season,” the Minister said, adding the new policy aims at enabling the farmers to withstand price fluctuations in national and global markets.
International lace trade centre to be set up at Narsapuram in AP The Hindu Business Line: August 21, 2012

Hyderabad: The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts is setting up an international lace trade centre at Narsapuram in Andhra Pradesh with an outlay of Rs 15.33 crore.
This infrastructure is being created to facilitate the development and marketing of lace products.
N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, will lay the foundation stone on Sunday at Narsapuram in West Godavari district.
Panabaka Lakshmi, Union Minister of State for Textiles, and State ministers will be present at the inauguration, according to a statement.
“The lace centre will be a great boon to persons involved with the work of producing, designing and exporting of lace products. Periodic visit of designers will enable the artisans, entrepreneurs and exporters to develop new product lines,’’ according to Rakesh Kumar, Executive Director, EPCH.
“EPCH is working actively to promote the handicrafts clusters at Narsapur region,’’ he said.
The project is a part of the Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme of the Ministry of Textiles.
Narsapur is an important location for lace products. Over one lakh women are involved in making of lace products.
More than 80 per cent of the exports of lace products originate from the East and West Godavari region. Their workmanship is known in India and major markets of the US, Europe and Japan.The council has already set up successful projects for cluster development at Saharanpur, Moradabad and Jodhpur.
During the first quarter this fiscal, handicraft exports touched Rs 4222.38 crore, registering a growth over 30 per cent. Export target for 2012-13 has been set as Rs 15,500 crore.
India takes the lead in national standards for organic textiles The Hindu Business Line: July 31, 2012

New Delhi: India has become the first country in the world to introduce national standards for organic textiles. This follows the Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, on Monday launching the “Indian Standards for Organic Textiles” (ISOT). The standards will be introduced in the National Standards for Organic Production (NPOP) and will be administered by the Commerce and Industry Ministry as part of the Foreign Trade Policy, an official statement said. There are over 1,000 branded organic products produced in India and each one is backed up with certification and traceability. Last year, India supplied certified organic products worth Rs 1,866 crore to Europe, Asia and the US, Mr Sharma said. “The NPOP includes norms for organic production and processing of agriculture crops and certification standards. Certification standards for organic textiles were not a part of it earlier. By introducing ISOT, India took over the long-standing position of the Global Organic Textiles standards (GOTS), a private standards prevailing in the organic textiles industry,” said the Commerce Secretary, Mr S.R. Rao.

Indian textile and apparel industry size to be $221 billion by 2020: Technopak The Economic Times: July 25, 2012

Ahmedabad: During the next decade when the $662 bn global textile and apparel trade would clock a CAGR of 5%, the $89 bn Indian textile and apparel industry would grow 9.5% to become $221 bn by 2021, according to Technopak's Textile and Apparel Compendium 2012 released on Wednesday.
India's $58 bn domestic market would also clock a CAGR of 9% to be $141 bn by 2021. Although dominated by menwear, India's domestic market would see growing share of womenswear and kidswear over the decade. Men's share in the basket would drop to 40% from 43%, the report indicates.
With Indian's increasingly taking to buying new homes and decking them up, the share of home textiles in the basket would grow by 8% to become $9 bn by 2021. The technical textiles market would however, clock a faster growth at 10% to become $34 bn during the period.
With growth slowing down in major consumer markets in the West, the dynamics of the global textile and apparel trade that would be $1 trillion by 2020 is likely to change dramatically, notes Technopak. BRIC economies and other South-East Asian manufacturing destinations would be the major growth drivers for the sector during the period.
New procedure by DGFT to speed up cotton exports Business Standard: May 09, 2012

Mumbai: To speed applications from interested cotton exporters, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce, has modified the procedure for obtaining registration certifications (RCs).
As against the earlier procedure of personal visits to the respective departments dealing in RCs, DGFT has mandated sending of all documents and associated papers through an e-mail. The purpose is to keep queries, if any, ready by the time an exporter sends hard copy of the applications and other relevant papers.
According to the current practice, an exporter applies with all valid documents in physical form. After these papers are assessed by DGFT, queries are raised. An RC takes weeks and, sometimes, months to obtain. With the new format of application, the RC can be issued within a couple of days.
The procedure is required to be speeded, especially when DGFT issued revised guidelines early this month for cotton exporters. In fact, DGFT clarified through a notification on May 4, that an exporter would be issued a second RC only on filing proof for executing at least 50 per cent of the quantity of exports mentioned in the first RC.
Generally, from the date of RC an exporter requires at least a month to physically ship the quantity of exports. The 50 per cent mandatory shipment clause, therefore, requires executing export orders fast to obtain another RC for the next consignment.
Welcoming the move, M B Lal, an industry veteran, said, “With the revised procedure, only genuine traders would be able to execute export orders fast.”
The price of the benchmark Shankar 6 variety remained stable at Rs 35,000 a candy (one candy = 356 kg) in the Ahmedabad spot market, despite exports being allowed by the government. So far, 16 million bales have been exported. By the end of this month, exporters expect this figure to move up to 20 million bales.

Textile industry keen on FTA with Pakistan Business Standard: April 19, 2012

Mumbai: The country’s textile industry is pushing the government to sign a free trade agreement (FTA), or something close to that, with Pakistan. Facing a challenging time in its traditional European market, it is hoping to make up for the loss of business with fresh trade options in that country.
An FTA with Pakistan is already a Prime Ministerial initiative. However, it faces issues and is yet to formally come up on the negotiation table. Both countries had agreed to establish a preferential trade agreement (PTA) during the first meeting between Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar and his Pakistani counterpart, Zafar Mahmood, in Islamabad last year. Under a PTA, the negotiating countries reduce their tariffs on a particular number of products from the level they maintain with other countries. However, unlike an FTA, a PTA does not slash or eliminate duties from a large number of tariff lines.
The textile sector is looking forward to an FTA with Pakistan since it would help Indian industry to import superior quality cotton from Pakistan. A little over 90 per cent of India’s cotton is genetically modified, popularly termed Bt cotton; this is medium staple. Finer quality is long staple and an FTA would enable India’s yarn makers to import these from Pakistan. Also, export of articles, such as silk and embroidery garment, is expected to go up.
“The apparel sector will benefit for sure if the agreement is signed with Pakistan,” said Rahul Mehta, president of the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India.
“FTA will be beneficial for both countries as there is good demand in Pakistan for Indian textiles,” said A B Joshi, textile commissioner.
It is expected that Pakistan would phase out the ‘negative list’ of imports with India by this December, which would automatically trigger a Most Favoured Nation status for trade. However, officials in the ministry of commerce and industry have said Pakistan might not phase out the list totally but do so gradually. In the negative list, Pakistan has put some of the main items of India's interest, such as textiles, pharmaceuticals and automobile components.
However, the commitment from there is to have textiles as part of a liberalised trade regime. “It is a win-win situation for both countries, as the Pakistanis can sell their products easily to us and vice versa,” said A Sakthivel, chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council. Establishing trust would help real business to grow between the countries, said an industry player.
In October last year, the government had opened duty-free imports from Bangladesh for 48 textile items, which had a negative impact on the Indian textile sector; Bangladesh is not dependent on India for any kind of textile import. it would be different in the case of India and Pakistan, with both standing to benefit from the textile trade.