Apparel Online India Magazine March 1st Issue 2019 | Page 10

MIND TREE
Q-and-A
There are media reports that the Government is planning to announce some incentives for the
textile and garment industry and even a revision in GST norms. Do you think that Government
has realised the sufferings of this sector and the support it needs, or is this just a political stunt
as general elections are going to happen soon, all this considering that the Government’s
recently announced budget included some relief measures?
HKL Magu, Chairman,
Apparel Export Promotion
Council (AEPC), Gurgaon
It seems that soon we shall get
some positive announcement
from Government side,
especially regarding embedded
taxes which were not refunded
to us earlier. Under the present
circumstances, we can expect
refund of this. Basically, this is
not an incentive but will help
us a lot. Margins are really thin
and everybody has financial
crunch, so it is not possible to
survive without support. There
is nothing political in this as
support is very much required
in this difficult scenario and we
have requested for the same
time and again.
Rajiv Dewan, President,
Garment Exporters
Association of Rajasthan
(GEAR), Jaipur
Sorry, so far there is not enough
help from the Government and
I don’t have any high hope that
the Government will support us
as per our requirements. Even
in the last five years, whatever
support or announcement has
been given or done by the
Government, has not proved to
be beneficial. How we (Indian
exporters) can be competitive
when our competing countries
like Myanmar and Vietnam are
receiving huge incentives of
45 per cent and Bangladesh
and China are already ahead
of us? Naturally, incentive is
a must for survival. We will be
more than happy and also
thankful to our Government
if they take initiatives to uplift
the Indian garment industry. As
of now, there is a suffocation
level in the industry. We are
really looking for Government’s
co-operation to be at par with
other countries.
Dalpat Lodha, Chairman,
Lodha Group, Jaipur
I personally think that we
should not depend much on
incentives. If the Government
gives any facility, it is more
than welcome, but how much
can the Government really
do. Many years ago, Indian
exporters used to get high
incentives (nearly 40 per cent)
which is now comparatively
negligible but export has
grown despite the decreasing
incentives.
K. Loganathan, MD, AKR
Textiles, Tirupur
I don’t see that there is any
political angle or something
like that… Overall India’s total
apparel export is not growing.
There are challenges on all
fronts, so various associations
of our industry at various levels
have made many presentations
10 Apparel Online India | MARCH 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
to the Government. Even during
our Prime Minister’s Tirupur visit,
apparel exporters shared their
concerns with him. So, our
Government is well aware of
the issues and challenges of
our industry and we are hopeful
that some relief will be there.
Even a special package of
Rs. 6,000 crore was announced
by the Government almost two
years ago which was a good
effort to create the balance
in favour of our industry.
However today,there is a huge
imbalance as Bangladesh is
receiving many benefits due to
its GSP status while India is still in
the process for finalising FTA.
Ravikumar, CEO, Indian
Designs Exports, Bangalore
To be honest, it really doesn’t
matter whether the proposed
‘more incentives’ have their
roots in the forthcoming
elections or whether the
Government has realised that
the industry is slowly suffering.
The fact remains that incentives
are a must for the garment
industry at present.
Pranab Mahajan,
Director, Mahajan
Overseas, Panipat
I strongly feel that there is
nothing political behind
the positive and expected
announcement. I don’t see
any connection between
such official decision and
upcoming elections. We are
quite hopeful that some relief
will be announced soon.
There is a turmoil in the global
economy, be it UK’s struggle
on Brexit, US’s emergency on
US-Mexican wall, etc.
In India, the textile industry has
a good share in employment
generation as well as in
GDP too. Even the housing/
real estate sector is not
performing well, and due to
this, liquidation is becoming
a challenge. Though there
is demand in the domestic
market, people are expanding
selectively. So looking at all
these and many such other
points, our Government must
have realised that the textile
industry definitely needs strong
and urgent support which has
no relation with the upcoming
election.
Rajeev Bansal, MD,
Celestial Knits & Fabs,
Noida
Only Government can rightly
answer this question as to
whether it has realised the
sufferings of this sector and
the support it needs or if
this is just a political stunt as
general elections are going
to happen soon. I can say
that both aspects have equal
probability. The Government
has complete feedback