India plans to set up 'Bharat Park' in the UAE

MUMBAI, INDIA: India has planned to set up 'Bharat Park' in the UAE where showrooms and warehouses for Indian goods will be established. This is to facilitate other countries of the world to purchase Indian goods from 'Bharat Park', as the payment system is secure in the UAE, stated Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Textiles and Commerce.

He was speaking as the Chief Guest during the Export Awards function of the Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) on January 4, 2024, held in Mumbai.

Goyal further stated that the future belonged to man-made fibre textiles (MMF).

Goyal informed, while speaking on the free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan, Australia, the UAE, South Korea among others, that the poor utilisation of FTA benefits in India is a matter of concern.

Minister Goyal announced that the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will spend INRs 400 million to set up 21 testing laboratories at various locations in India.

By RSS/ANI

Bhadresh Dodhia, Chairman of SRTEPC, stated that the export of MMF textiles in 2022/23 reached $ 5.8 billion, compared to $ 6.8 billion in 2021/22, registering a negative growth of (-) 15.3%. The export of technical textiles touched $ 2.5 billion in 2022/23, compared to $ 2.8 billion in 2021/22, registering a negative growth of (-) 11.9%.

The export of MMF textiles from April to October 2023 reached $ 3.1 billion, compared to $ 3.4 billion during the same period last year, registering a negative growth of 9.4%. Likewise, the export of technical textiles touched $ 1.51 billion from April to October 2023, compared to $ 1.5 billion during the same period last year, registering a positive growth of 0.5%.

SRTEPC Chairman Dodhia stated, "We are confident that the export of MMF textiles will exceed $ 6 billion in 2023/24, and the export of technical textiles will exceed $ 3 billion."

SRTEPC will make its best efforts to increase the export of MMF textiles to $ 11 billion and the export of technical textiles to $ 10 billion by 2030, as per the targets set by the government.

The MMF textiles sector is facing the problem of an inverted duty structure under GST. There is an 18% GST on fibres, 12% on yarns, and 5% on fabrics. This leads to accumulated input tax credits with the manufacturers, which adds to their costs. SRTEPC requests to cover the entire value chain of MMF textile products under the same rate of GST.

Dodhia urged the Indian government to cover the entire value chain of textiles and clothing under the Interest Equalisation Scheme.

SRTEPC distributed 55 Export Awards for the Year 2022/23. Reliance Industries received six awards in various categories. Other award recipients included Dodhia Synthetics, Banswara Syntex, D'Decor, Grasim, Vardhman Textiles and RSWM among others. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Rakesh Mehra, and the Women Entrepreneur Award was given to  Neha Jhunjhunwala.

The award function was graced by Roop Rashi, Textile Commissioner, Alexander, the Polish Ambassador in Mumbai, and Suresh Kotak.

The welcome address was given by Dhiraj Raichand Shah, Convener of the Export Award Committee, and the Vote of Thanks was given by Shaleen Toshniwal, Vice Chairman of SRTEPC.

SRTEPC will now be known as 'MATEXIL' (The Man-made And Technical Textiles Export Promotion Council).