Khadi sales expected to touch ₹3200 crore in 2018-19: KVIC

From ₹1,081 crore in 2013-14, the sale of khadi is projected to hit ₹3,200 crore this fiscal, according to Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) chairman Vinai K Saxena. The figure was ₹2,510 crore in 2017-18. New Delhi’s Khadi Gram Udyog Bhawan outlet recorded sales of ₹1 crore or more a day at least thrice last October-November when it offered discounts.

In fiscal 2017-18, the New Delhi outlet sold products worth ₹103 crore. Only a very few, who were witness to the dilapidated conditions of the store six-seven years ago, would have thought the transformation was ever possible. The outlet’s success mirrors the growing craze for khadi in recent years.

In the first four years of the present government, khadi sales grew at an annual average of over 30 per cent, against 6.7 per cent in the previous 10 years, Saxena told a leading financial daily.

Government push, aggressive marketing, supply tie-ups with companies like Raymond, Arvind Mills and Aditya Birla Fashion in 2017-18, and growing interest of public-sector enterprises for khadi products for their employees are the biggest sales drivers, he said.

Many state-run companies place order for gift coupons by KVIC to be distributed among their employees, who can shop at any Khadi store within a stipulated period.

Very soon, around 83,000 postmen will be clothed in khadi uniform, as an MoU with the department of post is being finalised, said Saxena.

KVIC has 18 sales outlets, including seven main stores, while various Khadi institutions across states own 8,062 outlets. Of the 1,942 khadi institutions in the country, 1,585 produce khadi fabric and readymade products. (DS). This Article is first published by Fibre2Fashion

Reviving The Weaves: What Modi Government Has Done For India’s Textile Industry In The Last Five Years

Considering that the some of the largest and most prosperous states in the Union are textile powerhouses, and Smriti Irani, one of the most spirited MPs, is in charge of the Ministry of Textiles, this sector was always going to be in the news.

Though the sector is the second largest employment generator (directly employing over 5.1 crore people and indirectly, about 7 crore), it has been largely out of step with recent times.

The textiles and garments industry in India is valued at around $127 billion. On the face of it, the complete value chain exists within the country — fibre, yarn, fabric and finished goods to export and local consumption — apart from abundant labour.

Yet, India’s share in global textiles exports is just 5 per cent, whereas China’s is at 38 per cent and Bangladesh and Vietnam together at 3 per cent. The value is around 13 per cent, with previous highs hitting 25 per cent of the total exports basket in FY 2002. Finished products, or value-added downstream products, are at 3.5 per cent for India, 40 per cent for China and about 5 per cent each for Bangladesh and Vietnam. These figures are a cause for concern.

Issues affecting India’s textile sector include outdated technology, unskilled labour, lack of access to infrastructure and capital, as well as the fragmented nature of the industry. The disconnect between the cotton growing areas and the areas where cotton is processed into cloth (owing to access to power, infra, credit etc) and the resultant disconnect in employment and cash flows are significant reasons. The textile sector comprises 80 per cent of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) players. They need flexible labour laws and a skilled workforce but lack the structural support to bring about these initiatives, themselves.

Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) data says the export of apparel and textiles has grown significantly in the financial year 2018-19. In October 2018, these exports registered 38 per cent year on the year growth, followed by 14 per cent in November 2018. So, what has the Ministry of Textiles under Smriti Irani done to align India with global competitiveness and help this sector flourish?

Credit Availability And Tax Rebates

Under the Centre’s Samarth scheme, Rs 1,300 crore was disbursed to the sector, and another Rs 6,000 crore was earmarked for the downstream package. Along with state incentives, increase in import duties on textiles and apparels, this is directly credited for the revival. The Union cabinet approved a scheme to rebate state and central embedded taxes that made exports of apparel and made-ups (textile commodities other than apparel) zero-rated.

Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY)

Beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY), aimed at catalysing formal job creation, have crossed 1 crore this fiscal. The number of establishments covered under the scheme stood at 1.24 lakh in January 2019.

The PMRPY is being implemented by the Ministry of Labour and Employment through the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The textile sector had availed this scheme at 12 per cent governmnt contribution to employee provident fund (EPF) scheme. This is crucial for labour in the sector to move out of informal to formal work backed by a social security safety net.

This has led to nearly all the big grower and producer states to compete to promote setting up of new factories, brand and GI (geographical indication)-tag their handloom products, encourage clustering for better bargaining for smaller weavers, and give conservation support for water-power-environment, as well as support to set up global buyer fairs.

Access To Power

To solve the issue of patchy access to power that impacts the power-loom sector directly, the Ministry of Power along with the Ministry of Textiles launched an initiative called sustainable and accelerated adoption of efficient textile technologies to help small Industries (SAATHI).

Under SAATHI, the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) would procure energy-efficient power looms, motors and rapier kits and provide them to MSME power loom units at no upfront cost. With SAATHI, the government expected energy and capital cost savings to accrue to the unit. These savings would enable repayment over five years to EESL.

Eliminating Middlemen

Middlemen source cheap raw material from big states by placing orders with master weavers, who outsource to smaller power loom weavers who are paid daily wages. This restricts the business potential of local weavers. In Tamil Nadu, power loom weaver clusters have volunteered to form companies, and produce grey (raw) and value-added, dyed and printed fabric. This provides them MSME status and representation, and the Textiles Ministry has promised them further support.

In the knitwear sector, the Yarn Bank Scheme is aimed at enabling small units to purchase yarn at wholesale rates through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to which the government will provide an interest-free corpus fund, maximum of up to Rs 2 crore, per bank. Again, this will eliminate middlemen in the sector.

Access To New Markets For Handlooms

Under their ‘Look East’ initiative, the government continues to eye new physical markets in South East Asia, Korea and Japan. Its integrated marketing plan for textiles, revealed in 2017, identified 13 countries as target markets, and aligning our product lines with demand in each market. The countries included Germany, France, Italy, the US, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Australia, Russia, the UAE, Brazil, Egypt and Chile. A common umbrella brand and converged marketing space was also recommended.

Modernisation, Digitisation, Preservation And Conservation Of Textile Heritage

Irani has tasked the various National Institutes of Fashion Technology (NIFTs) with assisting in the modernisation, digitisation and preservation of textile heritage and knowledge. Their artificial- intelligence-led initiatives, trend-forecasting service and innovation labs will guide the handloom sector in deciphering seasonal trends in keeping with India’s national and regional socio-cultural constructs and market requirements, and develop products that hit the spot in terms of trends, design and colour.

Through the Craft Cluster Initiative, the Ministry of Textiles intends to create textile and craft knowledge, fed into a nation-wide Indian textile and craft repository. This repository will house resources currently spread out over weaver service centres, crafts museums, and private collections. Virtual museums will be set up to help in easy sourcing of traditional and contemporary designs. The design innovation and incubation (DII) lab will facilitate collaborations and incubation support.

Khadi And Village Industries Commission

Khadi and village industries are a big priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rural development initiatives. India has a rich and ancient handloom heritage, which needs to be preserved and (GI) tags ensured. In fact, enough demand can be generated within the country itself for khadi and related items.

From 2014 to now, the production of khadi cloth has increased from 9 crore square metres (sq m) to 15.65 crore sq m now. With 1,010 additional new sales centres, and all 8,500 of them staying open on Sundays, the average business has grown by Rs 7 crore per year. The MSME had made a provision of Rs 550 crore for the adoption of solar charkhas, which is expected to add to rural job creation.

Promotion Of Wool, Knitting And Knitwear Sector

The Ministry of Textiles has launched a comprehensive scheme for development of the knitting and knitwear sector called PowerTex India. This scheme would be in operation up to 31 March 2020. In the textile value chain, knitting constitutes 27 per cent of the total fabric produced in the country, 15 per cent of which is exported. Some of the major knitwear clusters in the country are in Tirupur, Ludhiana, Kanpur, and Kolkata. The scheme encourages clustering of weavers with equipment and machinery support.

The total outlay for PowerTex India Scheme and Knitwear Scheme is Rs 487 crore. Of this, Rs 439 crore is for power loom units for three years (FY 2017-2020) and Rs 48 crore for the Knitwear Scheme. A significant part of the budget will be spent on skilling, facilitation, IT, awareness, studies, surveys, and market development and publicity.

Promotion Of Silk Especially In The North East

Under the Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk industry (ISDS), the Ministry of Textiles is providing automatic reeling machines to increase the production of quality Bivoltine silk by almost 60 per cent by 2020. This will cut down our dependence on Chinese silk imports in the next three to four years itself. This ties in with sector employment targets of a crore and training of 50,000 weavers. The production of Bivoltine silk has grown recently by 12-13 per cent.

The government will provide financial assistance to individual farmers and silk producers to develop infrastructure, bearing 50 per cent of their costs. Producers will get subsidies by Direct Benefit Transfer. In case of beneficiaries from northeast states, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, the Centre will bear 80 per cent of the cost.

Woman Empowerment

Given that the Ministry for Textiles is being led by a woman, it’s only natural that the ministry has schemes specifically for the upliftment of women employed in the sector. About 77 per cent of workers employed in the handloom sector are women. The Ministry of Textiles launched four exclusive schemes for them – National Handloom Development Programme, Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme, Yarn Supply Scheme and Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme.

Women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and below poverty line (BPL) families can utilise a 100 per cent subsidy for construction of worksheds under the National Handloom Development Programme. The women also get 75 per cent fee subsidy at Indira Gandhi National Open University and National Institute of Open Schooling.

The number of women employed in silk manufacturing is expected to hit 55 lakh by 2020. The ministry has also been skilling close to 6.42 lakh women through Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term, of which 5.3 Lakh women have been placed in different sectors in the textiles industry.

Few people have an idea of the diverse investments, the clear policy-line and albeit protectionist, but very forward-looking policy directives of the current Ministry of Textiles. Under Irani’s leadership, the ministry has made relentless efforts to become more market-oriented, generated employment and promote entrepreneurship.

At the Textile Conclave at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, Irani announced the government’s resolve to roll out the first-of-a-kind ‘Size India’ project across the country. This means India will have its own standardised apparel size, based on a survey. Indian design and fashion are now a formally recognised industry. Standard sizing makes the jobs of producers, designers and buyers, easier, and would boost our domestic and international market.

The textile industry remains a great opportunity for India to generate employment at scale, and at the same time earn precious foreign exchange. The efforts made under this government to revive this sector have been wide-ranging and progressive with Smriti Irani’s personal engagement and interest making a big difference in this ministry. This article first published Swarajyamag.

Cabinet approves Scheme to Rebate State and Central Embedded Taxes to Support the Textile Sector

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the Scheme to Rebate State and Central Embedded Taxes to Support the Textile Sector. This will enable the Government to take various measures for making exports of apparel and made-ups zero-rated.

Details:

At present, apparel and made-ups segments are supported under the Scheme for Rebate of State Levies (RoSL). However, certain State, as well as Central Taxes, continued to be present in the cost of exports. The Cabinet decision provides for a scheme to rebate all embedded State and Central Taxes/levies for apparel and made-ups which have a combined share of around 56% in India’s textile export basket. Rebate of taxes/levies has been permitted through an IT-driven scrip system at notified rates.

Benefits:

The proposed measures are expected to make the textile sector competitive. Rebate of all Embedded State and Central taxes/levies for apparel and made-ups segments would make exports zero-rated, thereby boosting India’s competitiveness in export markets and ensure equitable and inclusive growth of textile and apparel sector. Source: PIB India

Hank Yarn Packing Provisions Amended

Union Ministry of Textiles has amended hank yarn packing notification No. 2/TDRO/8/2003 dated 17.4.2013 read with amendment Notifications No.4/TDRO/8/2010 dated 31.3.2010, No. 5/TDRO/8/2015 dated 2.9.2015 and No.6/TDRO/8/2015 dated 25.5/2018.

Now every producer of yarn who packs yarn for civil consumption will pack yarn in hank form in each quarterly period commencing from January-March 2019 and every subsequent quarterly period, in proportion of not less than 30% of total yarn packed by him during each quarterly period for civil consumption. However, not less than 80% of the yarn required to be packed in hank form shall be of counts 80s and below.

Previously, this proportion was 40% of total yarn packed.

This notification will come into effect from 1^st January, 2019. This news piece is first publish by PIB INDIA

Government clears scheme to rebate central, state embedded taxes for textiles sector

The Union Cabinet Thursday approved a scheme for rebate of all state and central embedded levies for apparel and made-up textile segments, which would make shipments zero-rated, thereby boosting the country’s competitiveness in export markets.

Addressing a press conference here, Textiles Secretary Raghvendra Singh said the decision was needed as incentives for apparel and made-ups under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) were not WTO compatible anymore.

“The MEIS scheme offered 4 per cent support which was not available beyond December 31,” Singh told reporters.

He said rates under the Remission of State Levies (RoSL) have been revised upwards for garments and made-ups, and centrally embedded levies outside the ambit of GST have been added to the scheme, which will “more than offset” incentives not available under MEIS for apparel and made-ups.

The decision assumes significance as shipments from neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Vietnam enjoy zero duty access to the EU, which is the biggest export market for India’s apparel sector.

“However, our exports to the European Union have to face a tariff disparity of around 9.6 per cent. We were facing acute competition in this business where profitability is quite marginal,” Singh said.

The made-up segment of textiles includes products like bedsheets, blankets and curtains.

“Our endeavour will also be to extend these benefits to exports of fibre, yarn and fabrics. A committee will be set up to examine if similar incentives can be extended to these segments,” Singh said.

According to him, the revenue foregone estimate due to the decision has been pegged at Rs 6,300 annually.

The inter ministerial committee as well as the norms committee of the Department of Commerce shall from time to time assess the impact of this decision and tweak it wherever needed, Singh said.

Currently, Remission of State Levies (RoSL), which is to offset indirect taxes levied by states such as stamp duty, petroleum tax, electricity duty and mandi tax that were embedded in exports, is provided to textiles exporters.

“The decision which also extends rebate up to March 31, 2020, will greatly benefit apparel & made-ups manufacturers/exporters,” Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said in a tweet.

She said the apparel and made-ups have a combined share of 55 per cent (around USD 21 billion) in the total Indian textile export basket and the decision to enhance rebate will have a direct impact on these segments, thereby increasing competitiveness of India’s textile exports globally.

The decision also entails change in disbursal mechanism whereby the rebate of all embedded state and central levies will be done through the Scrip System.

“Fulfilling one of the primary demands of the industry, Rebate of State and Centre Levies/Taxes will be done through IT-driven Scrip System thereby preventing delay & ensuring speedy disbursal,” Irani said in another tweet.

The decision will enable the government to take various measures for making exports of apparel and made-ups zero rated.

“The proposed measures are expected to make the textile sector competitive. Rebate of all embedded state and central taxes/levies for apparel and made-ups segments would make exports zero-rated, thereby boosting India’s competitiveness in export markets and ensure equitable and inclusive growth of textile and apparel sector,” an official statement said.

A senior official said under RoSL, in apparel, previously there was a maximum rate of 1.7 per cent which has been revised to a maximum of 3.6 per cent.

The rate of central levies on apparel was a maximum of 2.45 per cent which means effectively the rate on apparel has gone up from 1.7 per cent to 6.05 per cent.

The official said for made-ups, previously the maximum RoSL rate was 2.2 per cent which has been revised to 5 per cent, plus central levies with a maximum rate of 3.2 per cent, taking the overall rate from 2.2 per cent to 8.2 per cent. This article is first published on EconomicsTimes.

Union Textile Minister inaugurates Karanj Textile Park

Union textile minister Smriti Irani has said that country’s greatest man-made fabric (MMF) hub in Surat may just play a pivotal function in the historical VisionNXT, a trend forecasting initiative of the central govt to create an indigenous style forecasting carrier.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Rs 300 crore Karanj Textile Park in Mandvi taluka— South Gujarat’s greatest textile park evolved by way of the textile marketers – on Wednesday, Irani said, “Till now, the textile industry used to be dependent on the world style trend forecasting. Thanks to the theory given by way of a Surti textile entrepreneur, the federal government has introduced the industry’s first style forecasting carrier with the help of NIFT.”

Irani added, “The trend forecasting lab has been begun in Delhi and that the proposed carrier is in response to the basis that style is a dynamic industry which is determined by seasonal tendencies and forecast for the long term and Surti textile marketers may just give a contribution massively to such initiative under VisionNXT.”

Irani additionally appreciated the environment issues at the textile parks in South Gujarat where the rustic’s first zero liquid discharge (ZLD) has been arranged at the Gujarat Eco Textile Park (GETP) at Palsana under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) scheme of the Central Government.

Irani said, “The wastewater from CETP plant in Palsana might be recycled throughout the ZLD plant challenge where more than 92% of the amount might be recycled and despatched to park participants for process requirement.” This article first published on IdealNews.

Textiles Minister Smriti Irani launches 3 new projects

The Minister of Textiles, Smriti Irani, visited the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in New Delhi on March 5 to launch three programmes there: the Indian textiles and craft repository, Design Innovation and Incubation (DII), and VisionNXT.

Irani launched three new projects on Tuesday at NIFT in New Delhi aiming to aid the handloom textile sector and India’s fashion industry as a whole. One of the projects, the Indian textiles and craft repository, will develop a virtual textile museum for both indigenous and luxury crafts. It will be an online library of textile related information and will have digitized archives from textile museums, weaver’s centers, and resource centers across the country.

Another new project, the Design Innovation and Incubation (DII) is designed to help support young entrepreneurs, start-ups, and artisans with NIFT students and alumni. The organization is designed to facilitate collaboration between artists and give a platform to young creatives.

The VisionNXT initiative will create an India-specific fashion forecasting service that will be able to predict upcoming fashion trends based on national demographics and data. Irani had already spoken about the project at a recent appearance at NIFT in Chennai and, on Tuesday, she brought it to the capital.

Speaking about the project, Irani said: “It will help handloom sector in production of handloom products as per the market requirement in terms of trends, design and colour forecast,” as reported by the Press Trust of India. Irani also inaugurated a renovated Handloom Haat during her visit. Article is first published on FashionNetwork

Smriti Irani Inaugurated refurbished Handloom Haat at Janpath, New Delhi

Textiles Minister Smriti Irani today inaugurated the refurbished Handloom Haat at Janpath in New Delhi. The main objective of the Haat is to provide infrastructure support to handloom agencies to augment their sales of handloom products and to showcase the exquisite variety of products produced all over the country.

To make the building of Haat more attractive, the refurbishing work was taken up in 2018. Besides, Mrs Irani also launched the three projects which are Trend Forecasting, Design Innovation Incubator and Textiles and Crafts Repository. These projects are being set up in the building by National Institute of Fashion Technology, NIFT which will help handloom sector in production of handloom products as per market requirement in terms of trends, design and colour forecast.

Source: All India Radio, News Services Division

VisionNxt Initiative to help Handloom Sector : Textiles Minister

Make products as per market requirement :Textile Minister

New Delhi: Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani Tuesday launched three projects of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) including VisionNXT, a trend forecasting initiative. The VisionNxt initiative will create an indigenous fashion forecasting service which endeavours to design seasonal directions for the country, the minister said here.

The proposed service is based on the premise that fashion is a dynamic industry which depends on seasonal trends and forecast for future course of action.

“It will help handloom sector in production of handloom products as per the market requirement in terms of trends, design and colour forecast,” she added.

The other two projects are — Indian textiles and craft repository and Design Innovation and Incubation (DII).

The repository will develop a virtual museum of textiles, and textile crafts, a designer archive, indigenous case studies, and also act as an aggregator of online information on related research.

Virtual museum will have digitised resource of traditional archived pieces from museums, resource centres, weavers’ service centres.

Source: The Economic Times Retail

Govt may bring mandatory standards for technical items: Textiles Secretary

Raghvendra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India on Thursday said that the government is likely to consider bringing mandatory standards for technical textiles items where Indian standards are available. This will not only provide fillip to Make in India in technical textiles but will also improve the quality in areas like health, environment, security, and safety.

Continue reading →