Ludhiana is a hub of knitwear industry in Punjab, having around 5,000 units with a majority of them in the MSME sector, disturbed over the rising imports of man-made fibre textiles from China due to lower import duty, the knitters will be meeting Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal so that the matter could be taken up in next GST Council meeting.

After the implementation of GST, the import duty on man-made fibres has fallen from a cumulative 28.5% (including basic custom duty, countervailing duty, special additional duty, education cess) to about 15.3% (including basic custom duty, education cess and Integrated Goods and Service Tax). Thus, the import has become cheaper by about 13.2%.

In addition to this, China, which is the major exporter to India (having 90% market share) provides drawback/incentive of 18% on man-made textile exports.

Hence, the manufacturers want higher import duty on man-made fibre textiles so that the domestic industry doesn’t suffer.

Ajit Lakra, president, Ludhiana knitters Association said that they have suggested imposing dumping duty on import of man-made fibres as a step to protect the domestic industry.

He said that there was a serious gap in import tariff structure wherein there is specific duty on most types of fabrics. But there is no such specific duty on chapter 60 which comprises knitted fabrics.

These changes need to be done with immediate effect otherwise the industry will be in doldrums. As major fabric import is being done from China it is widely affecting the domestic industry.