Impose 10% duty on silk fabrics imported from Vietnam: FIASWI

Surat: After cheap import of synthetic filament fabrics from China, Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI) has raised an alarm on phenomenal increase in the import of cheap silk fabrics from Vietnam.

In a pre-budget memorandum to Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, FIASWI chairman Bharat Gandhi stated that the condition of silk fabric manufacturers in Varanasi, Bhagalpur, Bengaluru, Tamil Nadu and Surat has worsened over the last two years due to significant increase in the import of cheap silk fabrics from Vietnam.

Gandhi stated that Vietnam and Bangladesh have been included in the Government of India’s most favoured nation (MFN) status with a provision to have free trade of major textile commodities where silk fabrics are also included. At present, the import of silk fabrics from Vietnam attracts zero per cent duty, making the indigenous silk fabric product in India costly.

The FIASWI has demanded that the government impose safe guard duty of 10% on the import of silk fabrics from Vietnam to provide a level-playing field to local manufacturers.

Gandhi stated that the import from Vietnam has increased more than two-fold from 2 lakh square metres in 2015-16 to 5 lakh square metres in 2016-17.

FIASWI chairman Bharat Gandhi told TOI, “Many Chinese manufacturers have started their factories in Vietnam. They manufacture silk fabrics in Vietnam and dump them in India on cheaper rates. This has affected the growth of Indian silk weaving and silk exports and creating employment problems here.”

Gandhi stated that the FIASWI has also demanded that fabric manufacturers be allowed utilization of accumulated Input Tax Credit (ITC), reduction in import duty on textile machinery, reduction in power tariff, lifting of anti-dumping duty on polyester filament yarn and viscose filament yarn, etc.