Apparel Online India Magazine January 1st Issue 2019 | Page 8

EDITORIAL
ROUNDUP
2018
FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S DESK…
A P PA R E L I N D U S T R Y I N P E R S P E C T I V E
There was a lot to write about in 2018 from the US-China trade war to failure of Government to support the industry. The growing Indian
retail also caught my attention many times over the year, as also the challenges that the industry was going through. Of course, the currency
depreciation was a positive news for the exporters, but no real growth parameter in the true sense was noted. In a year full of ups and
downs, I made my stand clear on many developments and always tried to be honest in my observations… Your comments and reactions to
my editorials are always welcome.
January 16-31
New Chairman, old
challenges
EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS …
The two years of the AEPC Chairman, Ashok
Rajani has just come to an end and these past
years have been spent addressing one policy-
related matter after the other. Ashok is a man
of purpose and quick decisions, but was there
any time to do something new or different…
The new Chairman, HKL Magu, is a thorough
gentleman, soft-spoken and polite. I am sure
that he is more than capable of handling
difficult situations with kid gloves.
November 1-15
AO TOP 100, an
honest exercise to
map the top players
of the industry
October 1-15
Why have
associations softened
their stand on Ministry
role?
Only six months ago, all associations were
blazing their guns and accusing the Ministry
of doing inadequately for the industry… But
lately, they have softened their stand on the
Ministry role. Neither new initiatives have been
announced, nor have any delegation from
any association visited the Ministry to discuss
the industry… But several regular buyers have
amicably worked around the prices so that
their preferred suppliers could withstand the
heat.
February 1-15
Budget
announcements for
industry disappoint
October 16-31
Is the Industry ready
to take on long-term
Challenges?
With the rupee falling against the dollar
to historical lows…, there is a sense of
uneasiness. Exporters may have benefited
as of now, but this is a false sense of
competitiveness… Is the industry making
preparations to remain a preferred
destination or is it only basking in the currency
advantage… it is hard to tell! But what is for
sure is that orders are moving out of China
and business overall is going to increase...
8 Apparel Online India | JANUARY 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
In this long journey of following the ups and
downs of the apparel industry, Apparel Online
has always attempted to walk with the industry
providing information and directions that
could support the industry in moving forward.
AO TOP 100 was conceived 10 years ago as
one such attempt to bring to the table 100
export companies that are among the best
in India. Of course, the debate on whether
these 100 companies are in fact the country’s
top 100 in terms of turnover is a continuous
one…
GOVERNMENT/POLICY …
The recently announced budget has been
a disappointment again. Increasing the
budgetary allocation from the existing
Rs. 6,222 crore of last year to Rs. 7,148 crore
is nothing but just hogwash. The Government
claims that in order to reduce the tax burden
on MSMEs, the corporate tax has been reduced
to 25 per cent which will benefit 99 per cent of
the textiles sector as it’s primarily in the MSME
segment. I believe the Government could
have reduced the corporate tax for smaller
players…, as they may be just 200 or little
more.
August 1-15
Many policy
decisions…, but no
long-term planning
Recent days have seen some major
announcements being made by the
Government, including the refund of
accumulated Input Tax Credit at fabric stage;
rates cut on Chenille fabrics and other fabrics