Textile minister seeks feedback on Surat weaver’s issues

Following issues raised by Surat weavers associations at a meeting held in Delhi, like yarn price fluctuation, anti-dumping duty on PTA and dumping of undervalued Chinese fabrics, minister of textiles Smriti Irani asked the textile commissioner to provide a detailed feedback on these issues faced by the powerloom sector and submit a report.

A delegation of powerloom weavers from Surat who attended the meeting also raised the issue of reduction of subsidy in Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) scheme from 30 per cent to 10 per cent.

"Leaders of powerloom sector from different centres had common issues regarding dumping of Chinese fabric, anti-dumping duty on PTA, yarn price fluctuation etc,” Ashish Gujarati told the Times of India.

“The union textiles minister heard all of us and directed the textile commissioner to meet the stakeholders again and submit the report within 15 days," he added.

According to Gujarati, the powerloom industry in Surat was passing through a rough phase as out of the 625,000 weaving machines in the textile hub, only 30 per cent were working.

"We have requested the minister to conduct an independent inquiry into dumping of undervalued Chinese fabrics in India, which is hurting the domestic powerloom sector,” Dhiru Shah, managing director of Fairdeal Filaments too said.