Having fully recognized the significance of FTA with the European Union (EU) and the advantages it holds for India, the Ministry of Textiles is constantly in touch with the Ministry of Commerce for signing an FTA with the EU to boost trade especially in the textile sector. This was revealed by secretary, ministry of textiles, Rashmi Verma. Addressing industry leaders at Texcon 2016, a two-day international conference on textiles and apparel organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi, Verma revealed that while Bangladesh enjoys preferential treatment and tax benefits for textile exports, India has greater competitive advantage in terms of environmental compliances. As countries of the European Union attach huge importance to environmental compliances, India stands to gain over Bangladesh.

The Indian textile industry is at a turning point. While on one hand, China’s export growth in textiles is on the decline, India, which is riding on cost advantage, has its prominent role in international textile trade. India is also amongst a few selected countries that have the entire value chain within the country. Further, following the true spirit of federal competitiveness, several states are coming out with their own policy and incentives scheme for the textile sector. This augurs well with the aim to make India a leading global player in the textile sector. Roll-out of the GST would also greatly help in streamlining the tax structure and improve compliance, Verma added.

The secretary appealed to the industry to take full advantage of the special package announced by the government for the textile sector. She also pointed out that industry needs to increasingly focus on innovation, modernisation and technological advancement to become the world leader in the textile sector.