Apparel Online India Magazine October 1st Issue 2018 | Page 38

INDUSTRY LIVE With top export houses keen on investing, Odisha gears up for massive industrial growth India’s No. 1 apparel export house Shahi Exports’ MD Harish Ahuja, who owns nearly 50 garment factories across India, recently addressed an event in Delhi, in the presence of Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and many other well- known industrialists of India. The confidence and appreciation about Odisha in Harish’s words were really impressive. “In 2014, Shahi Exports was invited to set up a unit in Odisha. Within a month of our first meeting, we were allotted land and in August 2015, we set up our unit. Encouraged by the facilitation support, we are expanding and have employed over 2,300 people already,” said Harish. Later talking to Apparel Online, Harish told that in long run they have plans to move factories from major cities in NCR to smaller towns where more workers are available. More than 10,000 Odisha workers are working in Shahi factories in and around Bangalore and few other such apparel manufacturing hubs. As Shahi Exports is expanding in Odisha, the same trained workers do want to settle in their own state and have the comfort of working in their same company and profile as well. Not only Shahi, other exports and apparel manufacturing The second edition of the state’s flagship biennial global investors’ meet ‘Make in Odisha’ is scheduled for November 11 to 15 in Bhubaneswar and to make it a successful and grand event, the state organised investors’ meet in cities like Mumbai... Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha companies are also making fresh investments in Odisha, and many other industries are geared up and are investing there. The State Government is fully charged up to support the industry and apart from favourable policies, through continuous meeting and events, it is also motivating the industry to come to Odisha. with the industrialists and invited them to start or to increase their operation in the state. The CM in Delhi launched the ‘Invest Odisha’ website (www.investodisha.gov. in) a user-friendly portal where investors can find information related to policy, cost-of-doing- business, and infrastructure – all at one place. The second edition of the state’s flagship biennial global investors’ meet ‘Make in Odisha’ is scheduled for November 11 to 15 in Bhubaneswar and to make it a successful and grand event, the state organised investors’ meet in cities like Mumbai and New Delhi where the state’s Chief Minister Patnaik himself met ASSOCHAM has ranked Odisha as the No. 1 state in terms of investment implementation rate and the state is consistently ranked amongst the top 3 states in terms of live manufacturing investments in India. The state’s port capacity has increased ten times to 190 million metric tonnes at present and power generation has increased more than three times, while road network has expanded by over 50 per cent. Some of the interesting initiatives in textile and apparel industry in the state include Indian Oil Corporation’s upcoming textile park where a Rs. 1,000 crore polyester staple fibre (PSF) unit will be set up. The state is seeing World Bank’s support in textiles. The Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) is also exploring possibilities to set up garmenting units in the state and is positive about the state’s policies and support. The State Government is also working to establishing a Yarn Bank along with Apparel Incubation Centre at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhubaneswar, to mention a few. “With Odisha Government’s vision and guidance, the garment industry will be able to progress and reach great heights,” added Harish. Other stalwarts from various sectors like Naveen Jindal, Chairman, Jindal Steel and Power Limited; Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO Rooms; Marc Hoffmann, MD & CEO, SMS Group India, who also addressed the investor meet in Delhi, echoed similar sentiments about the opportunities for their industries in Odisha. TEA urges Centre to extend exemption on IGST payment Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) has requested the Central Government to extend exemption from the payment of IGST (Integrated Goods and Service Tax) while importing machinery under EPCG scheme, which is currently valid till the end of this month. Raja M Shanmugham, President, TEA 38 Apparel Online India | marked out that if the exemption is not extended, exporting units will come under the additional burden of paying IGST. “Upfront payment of IGST will affect the working capital of the exporting units as the refunds of GST through ITC refund route will take time to reach the hands of the exporter,” the President added. The textile and apparel body elucidated that since over 80 per cent of the exporting units are MSMEs (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises), it is difficult for them to meet their financial requirements, which eventually affects their day-to- day operations. Raja added that constant modernisation is the OCTOBER 1-15, 2018 | www.apparelresources.com need of the hour for the apparel exporting units, as nowadays the buyers are demanding consistent quality and installation of state- of-the-art machinery. Notably, TEA’s President said that he has sent letters to the Central Government urging it to extend the IGST payment exemption on an urgent basis.