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KOLLAM: Around one lakh entrepreneurs operating in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector are slated to benefit from a social security scheme initiated by the state government.
Claimed to be a first of its kind in the country, the scheme is meant for entrepreneurs and their families. The state government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 1 crore for the implementation of the scheme, which will be linked to the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and the Life Insurance Corporation of India’s group insurance scheme.
According to officers with the Industries Department, the scheme is an extension of the Social Security Fund Trust mentioned in the 2017-18 State Budget.“The role being played by the MSME sector in the state’s socio-economic growth is immense,” said an officer with Industries Department.“Though the state government itself is implementing a slew of programmes that support the sector financially and technically, it is of the view an insurance and social security scheme is the need of the hour.” That particular context, the officer said, has prompted the government to roll out such a scheme. Set to be of the group insurance kind, it will not only cover the entrepreneurs but their families too.
“The annual premium to be paid by the beneficiary is Rs 200. It will be equally shared by the entrepreneur and the state government. As we were planning to cover one lakh entrepreneurs under the scheme, the premium amount required is `2 crore. Of that, `1 crore has already been sanctioned by the government. The rest of the amount will be sourced from the beneficiaries,” the officer said.
The scheme, which proposes a claim amount of `4 lakh for death in case of accident, will provide `2 lakh for normal death. In the case of permanent disability, the maximum claim amount will be ` 2 lakh and for partial disability, `1 lakh. Other than life cover, the scheme offers scholarships to members’ children studying in Classes IX to XII.
It is stipulated the beneficiary should employ at least two people other than the proprietor, as certified by the general manager of the District Industries Centre. Additionally, the beneficiary’s unit should be in operation for three successive financial years prior to the financial year in which the application is submitted. Entrepreneurs in the age group of 18 to 50 years are eligible to apply for the scheme.Sources with the Industries Department said the state’s social security scheme for the MSME sector comes at a time when the Ministry of Labour and Employment is planning to introduce a similar scheme for informal sectors like MSME and workers not covered under the EPFO or ESIC schemes.
As far as Kerala is concerned, industries that come under the MSME sector include handicrafts, handloom, khadi, food processing, garments and textiles, and the industries related to coir, wood, bamboo, plastic, rubber, leather, clay and electronic or electric components. While the Directorate of Industries and Commerce is acting as a facilitator for industrial promotion and sustainability of the MSME sector, the traditional industrial sector in the state relies upon the help of Directorates of Handloom and Textiles, Directorate of Coir and Khadi and Village Industries Board for its growth.
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DGAD finds that polyester staple fibre is not solely responsible for causing material injury to the domestic industry
New Delhi: Commerce ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Anti- dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) has refused to impose anti-dumping duty on polyester staple fibre from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, saying that its imports are “not solely responsible” for causing material injury to the domestic industry.
The recommendation of the DGAD followed its probe into an alleged dumping of the fibre from these four nations. Alok Industries, Indo Rama Synthetics (India) and Bombay Dyeing had filed an application for the probe. DGAD in a notification has said that “imposition of antidumping duty is not warranted in the present investigation. Therefore, the authority considers it appropriate to recommend termination of investigation…”
In the conclusion of the final findings of the investigation, it said that although the fibre has been exported to India from these four countries at dumped prices but the same are “not solely responsible for causing material injury to the domestic industry”.
The authority had initiated the probe on the basis of sufficient evidence submitted by the applicants. Countries carry out anti-dumping probe to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of WTO.
The duty is also aimed at ensuring fair trading practises and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers with regard to foreign producers and exporters. India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products to check below-cost imports from countries including China.
Textiles and apparel sector has made a significant contribution by providing both direct and indirect employment to almost 35 and 50million Indians respectively, making it the largest employment sector after agriculture. This makes Khadi an important segment for concentrating towards export promotion.A round table discussion on taking KHADI:local to global was organized by Indian Institute of Foreign Trade on 30th Jan 2018 with support from KVIC and UDAANSKILL. The event focused on connecting the global demand and supply of Khadi, identifying newer markets and product diversification; developing promotional strategies to enter newer markets, inputs on trade policy, market access at WTO front, compliances, design interventions and possibilities of CSR interventions from corporates and PSUs.
Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister for Commerce and Industry said that “The export prospects of Khadi is rest assured with world moving towards natural and Eco-friendly Products. More and more people are becoming conscious of responsibility towards the environment and ecology and greater demand is being generated for bio-degradable and Eco-friendly products. It is for this reason the new MEIS 2015-20 policy also emphasizes on export incentives on eco-friendly textiles giving it a 34% growth last years from 52,000 crore to 70,000 crore turn over”
The minister further added that this round table discussion on “Khadi exports” is pertinent considering the fact that while textile sector being the largest source of employment generation in the country contributing to country’s 15% exports; share of Khadi sector is very low (less than 0.22%) in total textile sector. Hence focus on exports of this sector becomes important.End to end marketing strategy with support from trading houses and academic institutes like IIFT is the need of the hour, he said.
Shri. V.K.Saxena, Chairman, KHADI AND Village Industries Commission who was the Guest of honour explained about the diversity of efforts made by KVIC towards promotion of Khadi right from meeting the issues on raw material procurement, wage levels of rural artisans, technological and design interventions and making it a sustainable and export worthy segment. “Its export worthiness also comes from the fact that Indian Khadi earns a lot of water and carbon foot print since it requires only 3 litres of water as compared to 56 liters in other fabrics” said Mr. Saxena.
Apart from the supply side constraints for raw material procurement and production, there is also a strong need for establishing a strong demand in global markets. This will require the innovation in terms of diversification in product and market. Lack of product diversification is quite visible through limited export basket of Khadi which currently includes silk and muslin, readymade garments, textile-based Khadi and charkha. IIFT with a strong research capability can contribute towards establishing a market intelligence and give inputs on appropriate policy instruments and contribute towards cluster development said Prof. Manoj Pant, Director, IIFT. “Giving boost to export startups, KITTES, IIFT incubation cell would aim at developing new startups working towards Khadi exports” said Dr. TamannaChaturvedi, Co-ordinator, KITTES. Event was attended by Foreign Embassies; corporates including Raymonds, Future group, Aditya Birla, Hero, Maruti Suzuki India Limited; PSUS including LIC, NHPC, HPCL etc, EXIM bank, Amazon India, FICCIrepresentatives of ICHR etc.
Luxury clothing brand Zara has launched skirt-type Lungi. Yes, you read that right. They have come out with a “flowing skirt” that completely looks like a traditional lungi. The skirt, launched by Zara, which looks like an Indian lungi, is in the stores at a cost of £69.99 (Rs 6,200 approximately). Originally, a lungi costs anything around £3 (Rs 260) or even less. Luxury clothing brand Zara has always been extremely experimental. Whether it’s the floral print jackets, the furry courts or the ripped jeans, they have always gone out of the box when it comes to trying different fashion styles. Just like the sock-stiletto fiasco in which there was an abominable combination of a sock attached to high heels, Zara has now come up with a lungi-style skirt which no one can deny has an uncanny resemblance to the south Asian garment. Now we don’t really know if we should be happy or sad as this experiment could go really wrong.
However, with this, Zara is trying to make ‘lungi’ global apparel with launching these skirts. Lungi is a type of sarong and a traditional garment worn around the waist in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somaliland, Nepal, Cambodia, Djibouti, Myanmar and Thailand. It is particularly popular in regions where the heat and humidity create an unpleasant climate for trousers. The skirt, launched by Zara, which looks like an Indian lungi, is in the stores at a cost of £69.99 (Rs 6,200 approximately). Originally, a lungi costs anything around £3 (Rs 260) or even less. Zara has always set many fashion trends. May it be the high-waist leggings or the floral print dresses, high-end brand Zara is every fashion freak’s first choice. Their promotional strategy is also what works for them and they have a loyal customer base all over the world.The fashion group also owns brands such as Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home, and Uterqüe. Zara as of 2017 manages up to 20 clothing collections a year.
The government of Uzbekistan issued a resolution “On measures to introduce modern forms of organization of cotton and textile production.” Starting with the raw cotton crop of 2018, an experiment is being conducted. Domestic textile enterprises can order and pay in advance for the production of raw cotton directly from farms and other agricultural producers. The government approved a list of 13 enterprises – organizers of cotton-textile production – which are direct participants in this experiment, Norma.uz reported.
According to the decree, these enterprises promote efficient and rational use of land, water and other resources, increase in yields and timely harvesting of raw cotton, and also ensure its further in-depth processing and production of products with high added value. They are subject to the conditions and the procedure for the acquisition of agricultural machinery in leasing, the supply of mineral fertilizers, seeds, fuel and lubricants, chemical protection products and other material resources for farming. Cotton fiber, produced for own needs within the cotton-textile production, is certified on a voluntary basis. In general, cotton fiber is subject to mandatory certification. The volume of cotton fiber, exceeding the need for own production capacity, the organizer of cotton-textile production can sell to other domestic consumers under direct contracts or through exchange trades.
The document noted that the banks will lend the organizers of cotton and textile production in 2018 at the expense of the Fund for Targeted Financing of Government Procurement of Agricultural Products and Equipping with Agricultural Technology under the Cabinet of Ministers. The amount of loans is not less than 60 percent of the estimated need for financing the cultivation and supply of raw cotton (calculated taking into account the existing conditions for farms that sell raw cotton in the framework of state contracts) at a rate of no more than 3 percent per annum and on terms stipulated for financing farms that sell raw cotton within state order.
Currently, Uzbekistan is the world’s sixth-largest cotton producer among 90 cotton-growing countries. It produces about 1.1 million tons of cotton fiber annually, which accounts for about 6 percent of global cotton production. The country exports cotton mainly to China, Bangladesh, Korea and Russia. One of the policy priorities of Uzbekistan is further development of its textile industry. Uzbekistan takes consistent steps to increase the volume of cotton fiber processing.
In the period 2010-2014, the textile industry of Uzbekistan received and spent foreign investments worth $785 million while 147 new textile enterprises with participation of investors from Germany, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, the USA, Turkey and other countries were commissioned. Export potential of these enterprises amounted to $670 millions.
With exports falling for the third consecutive month in December, industrialists in the knitwear city are worried about downward business trend in the readymade garments (RMG) segment. RMG exports from the country plunged 40% year-on-year (y-o-y) in October and by 10%-13% y-o-y in November and December respectively.
Exporters believe that the central government was yet to realise the importance of providing incentives or the need for FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) for RMG with US and European countries to boost growth. “While the central government is making macro-economic corrections including demonetisation and GST, it has failed to realise the importance of hand-holding support like providing the right rate of duty drawback and other incentives,” said Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) president Raja M Shanmugam.
Earlier, the government stated that if firms pay GST, they would be able to get input credits. But the government did not bother about the effect of reduction in incentives ranging from duty drawback, rebate of state levies (RoSL) and merchandise exports from India scheme (MEIS), Raja Shanmugam said. After constant requests from the industrialists, the government came forward to increase MEIS—that too till June, from 2% to 4%. Still overall deficit of the incentives stands at 2.7% compared to the pre-GST period.
So, Tirupur knitwear exporters, who operate on thin profit margins due to stiff competition, were not able to quote attractive rates to international buyers, said A Sakthivel Regional Chairman Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Southern Region) “Once exporters lose buyers, it would not be easy to regain the business relationship. The knitwear industry has already been weakened due to multiple reasons including depreciation in the US dollar. The implementation of GST has become a death knell blow to the industry,” Raja Shanmugam stated.
There was a notion that in developing countries providing sops to the export firms was not necessary. But it is wrong. The government should provide sops and adequate infrastructure to ensure the sustainability of the industries,” he said. Referring to a recent tour of TEA office-bearers to Vietnam, Raja Shanmugam said, “We are self-certifying our nation as a traditional textile-oriented business hub but many new competitors like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia have overtaken India in the RMG exports and made-ups.” For instance, Vietnam, which had entered into the business only two decades ago, is exporting textile products to the tune of Rs. 2.2 lakh crore annually despite being an importer of cotton, he pointed out. India’s business stands at only Rs.1.6 lakh crore, he said. “Their government’s incredible support and Free Trade Agreements with the largest garment importing countries were major reasons for Vietnam’s success,” he said. There is a vast gap between the policy makers and the industry. The government should bring in knitwear welfare board, a dedicated research institute, and labour oriented measures, apart from restoring all the incentives,” senior industry officials said.
| ‘Adequate training should be given to traders, transporters and stakeholders’ The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has appealed to the State government to defer the implementation date for e-way bill from February 1 to May 1 as there has been no announcement or awareness to the assessees about the new arrangement. In a press release issued here on Tuesday, Chamber senior president S. Rethinavelu and president N. Jagatheesan said that the GST council had decided to introduce mandatory generation of e-way bill from the common portalwww.ewaybill.nic.into accompany invoice for inter-state movement of goods worth Rs. 50,000 and above.
Though the States have been given the discretion to introduce it any time before June 2018, without any announcement or through media, the State government had notified through a G.O. that it would implement the e-way bill from February 1. At a time, when the assessees had no clue about such e-way bill, its implementation may jeopardise the system, Mr. Rethinavelu said, and added that the State government should defer it by about three months. In the meantime, training programmes and awareness camps could be held to the traders. Registration For generation of e-way bill, every assessee had to register in the portal, get user ID and password. The vehicle number of the transport operator had to be entered and thus any lapse in following the procedure may stall movement of goods from one end to other. Adequate training should be given to traders, manufacturers, transporters and other stakeholders, the Chamber felt and urged the government to defer the date as done by the Maharashtra government. Once the users were familiar with the procedure, the transportation of goods through e-way bill would be a smooth affair. Textile traders called a public meeting at Millennium Textile Market on Ring Roadon Saturday in which they demanded simplification of the e-way bill which is proposed to be implemented by the central government across the country from February 1. Most of the traders, who addressed the public meeting, believe that the e-way bill’s implementation from February 1 will force the traders to shut their shops. At every stage of delivery of goods, be it the supply to the job workers, textile mills, handwork or embroidery, the traders will have to prepare the e-way bill, which is practically a difficult process. A textile trader Sanjay Saraogi said, “The traders want simplification of the GST law. First came the GST, now the government is preparing to implement the e-way bill. The traders will not be able to do business in a free environment as they used to do earlier. The small traders will have to literally shut down their shops as they won’t be able to generate e-way bill.” The traders urged Paatil to strongly represent their concern to the central government. If India joined FTA, norms may hit agriculture and manufacturing, says book The government’s Rs 6,000 crore package will boost apparel and made-ups sector and strengthen the entire textile industry, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani said on Saturday. Committed to Foster the Growth of the Textile Industry
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