A national-level meeting is convened by the Union textiles minister Smriti Irani to discuss issues faced by the powerloom sector in New Delhi on Monday. This is for the first time that key representatives from power loom clusters across the country have been invited for discussions by the Ministry of Textiles. Power loom weavers from the country's largest man-made fabric (MMF) hub in Surat have been also invited.

The Surat's power loom sector will be represented by Devesh Patel, president of Katargam Weavers Association; Dhirubhai Shah, managing director of Fairdeal Filaments Ltd; Ashish Gujarati of Pandesara Weavers Association and Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary Anil Saraogi.

The issues that will be discussed include increasing prices of yarn, anti-dumping duty on PTA, import of undervalued fabrics from China, technology upgradation, increasing subsidy for MSME under Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), electricity tariff, etc.

The major issue concerning power loom weaving sector is the import of undervalued fabric and garment from Asian countries, including China. In last few months, around 50% of the power loom units have been shut down due to the onslaught of undervalued imported fabric in the country.

Another major issue is of anti-dumping duty on PTA, which is the raw material of yarn manufacturing. Only three big corporate houses are going to benefit out of this and the rest of the power loom sector will suffer badly. When international PTA rates were $1,200, the yarn price was Rs135 per kg. Now, even though the PTA prices have come down to $600 dollar, the yarn price has not shown any major difference and is selling at Rs115 per kg.

Ashish Gujarati said that for the first time, the Ministry of Textiles has convened a national-level meeting of all the power loom clusters in India in New Delhi. They have an opportunity to put forth their views on the issues faced by the power loom weavers in Surat. A detailed discussion will be held and they will seek government's help in resolving their problems.