Reduce excise duty on MMF: FICCI tells Indian govt.

The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has urged the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, to bring down excise duty on man-made fibre (MMF) from the existing 12 percent to 4 percent to make the sector competitive vis-à-vis cotton-based industry.

The gap between cotton and MMF in terms of excise duty has further widened after the recent hike in duty to 12 percent through 2012-13 Budget, FICCI said.

The largest apex business organization in India said there is a need to encourage the growth of MMF industry in India and the Government should consider reducing the excise duty on MMF to 8 percent.

In 2006, there was an 8 percent excise duty on MMF, which was brought down to 4 percent through stimulus package of 2008-09. But, the excise duty was again increased to 8 percent in 2009, and then to 10 percent in 2010 and now to 12 percent.

FICCI also asked the Government to decrease the excise duty on raw materials like caprolactam (CPL) and Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) that are used in the manufacturing of textiles.

Moreover, FICCI pointed out that no special cluster has been announced for the hosiery sector, even though development of several clusters for various segments of textiles has been announced in the Budget.

The chamber said the hosiery cluster in Tirupur has lost its earlier charm owing to pollution problems and the High Court order, and suggested developing alternative hosiery clusters in states like West Bengal.

Source : fibre2fashion