Apparel April 2019 Apparel May 2019 issue | Page 34

FEATURE
THERE IS NO DENYING THE
CRITICAL ROLE APPAREL PLAYS
IN THE FORTUNE OF THE
NATIONAL ECONOMY.
Similarly, the Government’s reduction of the
Hank Yarn Obligation has been, in particular, very
well-received. Under this policy, the requirement
has fallen from 40 per cent to 30 per cent of
the total weaving yarn production for domestic
consumption. Industry leaders hail this as a
positive step which will remove the unusual
excess obligation followed so far and will help
the sluggish spinning industry to grow. The
policy was intended to ensure domestic demand
and price control by requiring a portion of the
production to be directed domestically. However,
as per industry data, the actual demand
domestically has continued to fall, making this an
unnecessary requirement.
Many are counting this as a historical step
as the demand for this change has been felt
for nearly 10 years and is only now being
addressed, further improving the ease of doing
business. The last time such a change was made
was nearly 16 years ago, when the requirement
was reduced from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.
In such a case, we must wonder why it has
taken the current Government so long to make
this change. Major industry leaders like the
Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI)
have been making this problem widely known for
years. It’s curious that this change has only come
during election season.
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I APPAREL I
May 2019
CAUTIOUS WAY FORWARD
As we can tell by looking at the different directions
the Government has taken in its schemes, there
is no singular intention. There is no denying the
critical role apparel plays in the fortune of the
national economy. So, like many critical areas, it is
not something to be trifled with. Despite this fact,
we can tell that while the needs of the industry are
well-known to the Government, their actions have
been incremental and precisely timed to coincide
with the elections. And while the same policies
might have been implemented earlier, perhaps
in some cases by months and years, they have
been reserved for this particular period.
While this doesn’t mean a de facto politicisation
of economic policy, this is scarcely a coincidence.
For the apparel industry, however, this may prove
to be an insufficient cause as the bulk of its voting
power lies in rural, industrial and labour-centric
camps. In terms of trade, it would seem that the
influence of policymakers so far seems to be
restricted to the business segment, which may
prove sufficient for the time being.