The Hindu Business Line : SIMA gears up for textile processing park

THE predominantly spinners apex textile body, the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) here, seems to have finally decided to drape a new garb and add colour and range to the product-mix of its members-mills.

The nearly five-decade old SIMA has now chosen to take its member-mills along the path of value chain in textiles by turning into a facilitator in promoting an exclusive textile processing park on a consortium basis with participation by members.

Although it has been in the air, the apex body has now made known its serious bid in this direction.

The SIMA Chairman, Mr Vijay Venkataswamy, speaking at the 45th annual general meeting of the association, indicated the association's move to set up the processing park at Cuddalore where there is enough ground water and also the facility for safe marine disposal of wastes.

He said his association was interacting with the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) on setting up the park. SIPCOT had identified and earmarked land for the park at Cuddalore. Based on the interest evinced by the members, SIMA would move further in planning the new project at an appropriate scale of economy.

``Though it is not possible for all spinners to move up the value chain,

it is time that at least some spinners move up the value chain either independently or by joining hands with like-minded colleagues to form a consortium which need not be restricted to production alone but may be extended up to marketing too, the last milestone in the textile chain,'' Mr Venkataswamy said.

On the fiscal changes, the SIMA chief felt that due to the uncertainties prior to the Budget on `Cenvat'-related rumours, the market took a beating leading to inventory build-up. This was mainly due to speculators who did overtrading under the assumption that Cenvat duty would go for the decentralised but the 8 per cent excise duty would stay at the spinning stage. This forced the liquidation of the over-priced stock taking long time. But the market sentiments improved with the introduction of the exemption route.

On the efforts of the textile industry to bring cotton imports under the Indian arbitration regulation, the SIMA Chairman said the Indian Cotton Mills Federation had held preliminary dialogue with the Indian Council of Arbitrationand also represented this issue to the Commerce Ministry suggesting the mandatory arbitration.