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Union Minister Smriti Irani today sought feedback from stakeholders on ‘Samarth’, a scheme for capacity building and skilling in the textile sector.
Union Minister Smriti Irani today sought feedback from stakeholders on ‘Samarth’, a scheme for capacity building and skilling in the textile sector. The scheme targets to train 10 lakh persons (9 lakh in organised and 1 lakh in traditional sector) over a period of three years (2017-20), with an outlay of Rs 1,300 crore. The guidelines of the scheme were released on April 23 this year.
The broad objective of the new scheme under the Skill India Mission is to skill the youth for gainful and sustainable employment in the textile sector covering the entire value chain of textiles, excluding spinning and weaving. “The concerns of the stakeholders and challenges faced by them during implementation of the previous scheme were discussed in the meeting.
“Feedback from the concerned stakeholders on how the scheme can contribute and benefit the textile industry and boost skill development in the respective sector was also discussed,” an official statement said.
The scheme, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on December 20 last year, is intended to provide demand driven, placement oriented National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) compliant skilling programmes to incentivise and supplement the efforts of the industry in creating jobs in the textiles sectors.
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E-way bill for intra-state movement of goods valued over Rs 50,000 would be mandatory in Assam and Rajasthan from May 16 and May 20, respectively, according to a finance ministry statement.
E-way bill for intra-state movement of goods valued over Rs 50,000 would be mandatory in Assam and Rajasthan from May 16 and May 20, respectively, according to a finance ministry statement. From April 1, the government had launched the electronic way or e-way bill system for moving goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one state to another.
The same for intra or within the state movement has been rolled out from April 15. So far 18 states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Union Territory like Puducherry have made e-way bill mandatory for intra-state movement of goods.
Till May 13, more than 4.15 crore e-way bills have been generated which includes more than 1 crore e-way bills for intra-state movement of goods. “E-way bill system for intra-state movement of goods would be implemented in Assam from May 16 and Rajasthan from May 20, 2018, the statement said.
With the roll-out of e-way bill system in these states/ Union Territory, it is expected that trade and industry will be further facilitated as the transport of goods is concerned, thereby eventually paving the way for a nation-wide single e-way Bill system, it added. The GST council had decided on a staggered roll-out of intra-state e-way bill starting April 15 to allow the system to handle the load. Touted as an anti-evasion measure and would help boost tax collections by clamping down on trade that currently happens on cash basis, the GST e-way bill provision was first introduced on February 1.
However, its implementation was put on hold after the system developed glitches in generating permits. With several states also starting to generate intra-state e-way bills on the portal, the system developed a snag. Since then, the platform has been made more robust so that it can handle load of as many as 75 lakh inter-state e-way bills daily without any glitch.
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu has said that cotton seeds without the requiste permissions and sanctions are trying to flood the cotton seed market in Andhra Pradesh and asked the officials to be on the alert.
He held a meeting with the officials on Monday morning and directed them to create awareness among the farmers. He also asked them to initiate strict action against those selling the spurious seeds.
He also asked the officials to ensure that cotton crop inputs are available in sufficient quantities ahead of the farming season so that the farmers do not have to face any crunch. He also wanted the officials to speed up various rural works and ensure that drinking and irrigation water supply issues were addressed immediately
Acceding to the request of apparel exporters, the Ministry of Textiles has approved to upgrade over 200 Apparel Training & Design Centres (ATDCs) across the country, including those in Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The upgrade includes setting up of state-of-the-art machinery and inclusion of new courses.
“Members of the industry told the textile ministry officials that the machinery at these centres was obsolete. Considering the competitiveness of exports, the industry needs highly skilled professionals. For this, these training centres should be upgraded and equipped with the latest machinery so that workforce can be trained on the modern machinery. Acting on the request of the exporters, the ministry officials has asked the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) to make project report for the upgrade. The ministry also agreed to add knitwear section in these training centres,” said a source present in the meeting, held recently, requesting anonymity.
India’s annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index (WPI), stood at 3.18 per cent for the month of April 2018 over same month of last year. The index for apparel increased by 1.1 per cent to 139.3 in April, according to the provisional data released by the Office of the Economic Adviser, ministry of commerce and industry.
The official WPI for all commodities (Base: 2011-12 = 100) for the month of April 2018 rose by 0.7 per cent to 116.8 from previous month’s level of 116.0, the data showed.
The index for manufactured products (weight 64.23 per cent) for April 2018 rose by 0.3 per cent to 116.1 from 115.7 for the previous month. The index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ sub-group rose by 1.1 per cent to 139.3 from 137.8 for the previous month due to higher price of woven apparel, except fur apparel (1 per cent).
The index for ‘Manufacture of Textiles’ sub-group too rose by 0.3 per cent to 114.4 from 114.1 for the previous month due to higher price of viscose yarn, weaving and finishing of textiles, cotton yarn and synthetic yarn (1 per cent each). However, the price of manufacture of cordage, rope, twine and netting, woollen yarn and made-up textile articles (1 per cent each) declined.
The index for primary articles (weight 22.62 per cent) rose by 1.4 per cent to 129.2 from 127.4 for the previous month. The index for fuel and power (weight 13.15 per cent) also rose by 0.9 per cent to 98.9 from 98.0 for the previous month due to due to higher price of naphtha, petroleum coke, furnace oil, HSD, kerosene and petrol. However, the price of LPG declined
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the ministry of commerce and industry, Government of India, has extended the incentive at 4 per cent under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) under Foreign Trade Policy of India (FTP 2015-20), beyond June 30, 2018. AEPC and the Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) have welcomed the announcement.
The MEIS incentive under Foreign Trade Policy of India (FTP 2015-20) was valid from November 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, as per earlier Public Notices issued by the DGFT.
Welcoming the extension of MEIS on garments and madeups beyond June 2018, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman HKL Magu said, “On behalf of the apparel export industry, AEPC gratefully acknowledges the support given by the Government by extending the MEIS scheme indefinitely beyond June, 2018.”
“At present, the industry is going through a tough period with its competitiveness greatly eroded. This is reflected in the unprecedented month-on-month decline in the apparel exports every month after October 2017. The extension in MEIS scheme has given us a breather and sanction of our request to ensure that all embedded, non-reimbursed Central and state levies be refunded which will help in restoring the competitiveness of Indian exports. This will enable us to increase India’s share in the world market and given our high employment intensity, create significant employment opportunities across India,” Magu added.
“We have been requesting the Central Government to extend the validity period as the exporting units are struggling to sustain after reduction of duty drawback rate and ROSL after implementation of GST and also delay in getting GST refund. It was also emphasised personally for continuance of this lifeline support during the meeting with ministers, textiles secretary and other higher officials,” said TEA president Raja M Shanmugham.
The continuance of MEIS rate at 4 per cent beyond June 30, 2018 is “a major relief to the exporting units who used to take up orders six months back normally,” he added.
He hoped that the government would soon resolve other export related issues.
In fiscal year 2017-18 that ended on March 31, the value of apparel exports from Tiruppur was ?24,000 crore, compared to previous year’s exports of ?26,000 crore.
The knitwear hub of Tiruppur accounts for 46 per cent of all knit garments exported from the country. Exports have fallen in the previous fiscal after registering growth for five years.
Biomass produced can be converted into wealth’
Researchers from various central and state institutions from six States converged for a brainstorming session at the ICAR’s National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB) in Tiruchi last week to discuss how best to utilise the enormous amount of biomass generated in banana cultivation by evolving technologies for its commercial exploitation.
In her opening remarks, S. Uma, Director, NRCB, observed that the enormous biomass produced in banana cultivation can be converted into wealth to provide supplementary income to farmers.
She suggested adopting development of clusters for mechanical extraction of banana fibre and development of fibre banks to cater to the demands of fibre industry and sustainable business models.
Speaking to The Hindu, Dr. Uma observed that although banana fibre was being used in making handicrafts and fabrics, there was enormous scope for scaling up its applications and commercial utilisation.
The meet, she said, identified two research issues of how to improve the quality of machine extracted banana and promote their use in power looms and take them up for funding. Other applications of banana fibre in production of craters and pro-trays replacing plastics, sheets and composite boards were also discussed, she said.
The Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Mumbai, presented technologies for utilising fibre based products, and researchers from Navsari Agricultural University, Gujarat, briefed on the replicable model for utilisation of banana pseudostem after bunch harvest. Representatives from the South India Textile Research Association explained the technologies they had developed for spinning and yarn making to make it suitable for blending with other fabrics in textile industry.
Researchers from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, highlighted the significance of fibre based nanofilm wraps for extending the shelf life of horticultural commodities in the shelves of super markets. The Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Coimbatore, showcased their machine developed for minimal processing of central core stem.
The Confederation of Indian Industry, Tiruchi, and Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited, have assured support for setting up of large scale fibre extraction units, a NRCB press release said.
A. P. Karuppaiah, President, and G. Ajeethan, Managing Director, TN Banana Producers Company Ltd.,suggested utilisation of pseudostem as a new vista of business opportunity.
actors like rising oil prices as well as tighter financial conditions are expected to drag down growth rates.
Despite moderation in factory output growth in March, India’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.7% in January-March, up from 7.2% in the preceding quarter, says a Nomura report.
According to the Japanese financial services major, despite the moderation in March, industrial production growth averaged 6.2% in the January-March period, up from 5.9% in Q4 (October-December).
The uptick in average industrial production growth, implies that the overall industrial activity strengthened in Q1 (January-March), “supporting our view of a pick-up in GDP growth to 7.7% year-on-year in Q1 from 7.2% in Q4”, the report said.
The report further noted that India is expected to witness cyclical recovery led by both investment and consumption. However, factors like rising oil prices as well as tighter financial conditions are expected to drag down growth rates.
“While we remain optimistic on the near-term growth outlook, we expect the adverse impacts of rising oil prices and tighter financial conditions to slow growth further out,” Nomura said.
According to official data, industrial output growth fell to a five-month low of 4.4% in March due to decline in capital goods production and deceleration in mining activity and power generation.
Industrial growth as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in 2017-18 too decelerated to 4.3% from 4.6% in the previous fiscal.
‘Punjab Agriculture Department has asked farmers to grow cotton on maximum area as its demand is set to increase in 2018-19 due to various factors.
According to a spokesman for Agriculture Department, due to climatic condition and flood cotton crop effected worldwide last year. India, USA, and China are searching out cotton market to import cotton. Moreover, Uzbekistan has set up ginning factories for cotton instead of exporting raw fiber. Prior to it, Uzbekistan was regarded one of the largest cotton raw exporter in the world.
China has cotton reserves but due to population growth, it is also looking for global cotton exporter. India has some issues with Monsanto Company regarding seed technology etc and also due to climatic change, its cotton reserves are not satisfactory for itself during this year. So, India will also look for exporter of cotton. Turkey is considering stopping imports of US cotton and explores new markets for its cotton requirements including from India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Egypt, he observed. Turkey is considering stopping imports of cotton products from United States as its export of angular iron rods to the United States may be in trouble due to high tariff announced recently by US President Trump. Turkey imports cotton products amounting to $519 million per year from US while its export of angular iron rods to the United States is around $525 million.
All these measures are supporting cotton exports from Pakistan as have much bright chances to find a global market of cotton. The spokesman said cotton bumper crop during this financial year is top priority of Punjab government because whole economy depends on its high production.
He disclosed that Punjab government is also devising “2025 Cotton Mission” plan. For immediate relief of cotton growers, the government is providing approved varieties of cotton seed up to 50% subsidised rate and also providing subsidy voucher at Rs 700 per cotton bag to core area of cotton growers. More than Rs 14 million is being spent for provision of Agricultural Machinery to cotton growers.
USDA’s Farm Service Agency is reminding producers of the May 31 deadline for the Cotton Ginning Cost Share program. Through the program, cotton producers may receive a cost share payment, which is based on a producer’s 2016 cotton acres reported to FSA multiplied by 20 percent of the average ginning cost for each production region.
FSA is mailing a postcard to remind eligible cotton producers of the May 31 deadline. FSA mailed pre-filled applications with this deadline information to eligible cotton producers in March when the original signup was announced.
