Indian minister asks industry to approach DGFT over dumping

Indian textiles minister Smriti Irani, who was recently on a day’s visit to Surat in Gujarat, reportedly avoided meeting textile industry representatives, saying her visit was for a party program.

She urged traders and power loom weavers to file a complaint with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) against dumping of imported fabric from China.

The power loom weavers have been demanding the refund of input tax credit (ITC), which the central government has not agreed upon. Irani, however, failed to give a satisfactory answer to media persons when asked about the issue, according to a top Indian newspaper report.

According to president of Federation of Gujarat Weavers’ Association (FOGWA) Ashok Jirawala, the power loom weaving industry is literally on the deathbed and only the refund of ITC will be able to rescue it.