Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Khawaja Muhammad Usman a spokesman for Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) categorically denied the claim of the commerce minister that APTMA was asking for removal of the duty. In fact, Usman has demanded imposition of 25 percent regulatory duty on the import of subsidised fine count cotton yarn, particularly from India.

However, he made it clear that imports under the duty and tax remission for export (DTRE) system or the manufacturing bond should be exempted from the regulatory duty, as the association believes in a free market mechanism.

He also expressed his concern regarding undue delay in announcement of Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF 2015-18).

He further said that the regulatory duty should be exclusively meant for the domestic industry. He pointed out that the Indian textile industry's experts have analysed the impact of subsidy on the production of fine count cotton yarn in the state of Gujarat.

Indian manufacturers get a subsidy of Rs 26.72 per kg in the form of lower interest rate, value-added tax benefit, duty exemption on electricity bills, reduced transportation cost of cotton and yarn and power cost besides central subsidies.

The analysis reveals that for a mill of 25,000 spindles, the total value comes to around Rs120 million per annum.

Import data of the first six months of the current fiscal year suggests that 3,000 tons per month is entering Pakistan from India. About 90% of imports originate from India, which is extending unstructured rebate to its manufacturers.