The Hindu Business Line : Plea to scrap special duty on ELS cotton imports

The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) seeking a Rs 50-crore special research fund from the Centre for improving the indigenous extra long staple (ELS) cotton varieties has suggested the removal of special additional duty (SAD) on imports as an interim measure.

"Domestic textile mills have to find ways to improve the indigenous ELS cotton to avoid their present dependence on import of these varieties. This calls for renewed R and D thrust for ELS. The Centre should support the SIMA effort with the Rs 50-crore grant it had proposed for the R and D initiative for the ELS cotton", Mr S.V. Arumugam, Chairman of the SIMA, said in his address at a one-day interactive session on technical textiles and training needs of the textile sector here under the aegis of SIMA.

Textile units in Tamil Nadu consumed over 40 per cent of the total cotton produced in the country but limited by low annual cotton crop of five/six lakh bales, produced within the State. There is a need for improving the cotton productivity in the State that houses a third of the country's spindleage. The mills' requirement of ELS cotton is largely met through imports. In this scenario, the SAD on ELS cotton imports must be particularly removed and in respect of other varieties of cotton, the import duty may be abolished to enable the industry bring down its raw material costs, Mr Arumugam said.

The other factors affecting competitiveness of the textile mills, according to the SIMA, are the high power tariff and the varying quality of the power transmitted on the grid which put the consuming textile industry having installed sophisticated machinery at considerable risk. He cited especially the lower industrial power tariff quoted by the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as bait to attract textile investment from Tamil Nadu. Andhra Pradesh power cost is cheaper by Rs1.70 per unit.

The other area of concern for the Sate's textile industry is the shortage of skilled labour and the SIMA chief asked the Tamil Nadu Government to allow the textile industry to use the premises of closed cooperative textile mills to train machine operators.

More Stories on : Cotton | Textiles | Exports & Imports | Excise and Customs | Tamil Nadu

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