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Poompuhar has organised Crafts Thiruvizha, a 10-day event at JJ Hall here, to showcase the works of 40 artisans.
According to R. Narendra Bose, this is a platform for several artisans to display their work. The fair, which will be on till January 28, hopes to register sales for Rs. 10 lakh. While 50 % of the products on display are textiles, the remaining are handicrafts. Artisans from Moradabad, Andhra Pradesh, Maharasthra, and different parts of Tamil Nadu have displayed art works. Sungudi saris, Mangalagiri cotton saris with vegetable dyes, brass and bronze items, wooden products, and Kancheepuram silk products are some of the items on display.
A roadshow was conducted in Race Course, showcasing some of the art works, on Sunday. The aim is to create awareness among consumers on the products available at Poompuhar, Mr. Bose said.
R. Saravana Kumar from Krishnagiri employs 40 people and engraves designs on plywood. The designs are highlighted using LED lights. The work can be customised too. “I organise drawing competitions for students and the best designs are selected as designs for this work,” he said. Mr. Saravana Kumar is engaged in this kind of wood work for about a year now.
The exhibition is a platform for such upcoming artisans, Mr. Bose said.
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Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs Celebrated its 15th Foundation Day on January 16th
NEW DELHI, January 18, 2018/PRNewswire/ — Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES) celebrated its ’15th Founder Day’ on January 16, 2018 at New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Vinay Sharma, Officiating Chairman of EPCES, said that the council was set up by Ministry of Commerce & Industry in 2003 and since the last 15 years, the organization has been working towards the export promotional needs of EOUs, SEZs and SEZ developers in the country.
The Founder Day Celebration was attended by several dignitaries, which included Shri G.K. Pillai, former Commerce Secretary, Shri Arun Goyal, Special Secretary, GST Council of India, Dr. L.B. Singhal, Development Commissioner, Noida SEZ, Shri Yogendra Garg, Additional Director General, GST Council of India, Shri Sanjeet Singh, Adviser, TRAI, Shri T.V. Ravi, Director (SEZs), Ministry of Commerce & Industry & Director General, EPCES, Shri S.S. Shukla, Jt. Development Commissioner, Noida SEZ, Shri R. Veeramani, Founder Chairman, EPCES, Shri R. K. Sonthalia, Past Chairman, EPCES, Shri P.C. Nambiar, Past Chairman, EPCES, Shri S.K. Saraf, Shri S.K. Badiga, Shri G.K. Gupta, President, FIEO, Shri Ajay Sahai, Director General, FIEO, Shri D.S. Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM, and other senior officers of Central Government and a large number of EOUs and SEZs.
Highlighting the role and importance of SEZs and EOUs in fulfilling the various economic and social development goals of various state governments, Dr. Vinay Sharma said that with oncoming polls, SEZs can help the states in achieving many of their promises made during the 2014 elections. The goals being:
1) ‘Make in India’: EOUs and SEZs are primarily for exports and the export figures.
Much more can be achieved with a little push and acceding to few issues requested by the trade.
2) ‘Exports from India’: The units in SEZs and the EOUs are exporting a lot and will continue to do more.
3) ‘Skill India’: Employment generation by this sector has been tremendous. Direct employment helps in creating indirect employment of 5 to 6 persons. So the figures speak for themselves.
4) ‘Rural Employment’: The EOUs and SEZs are spread all over India, including in rural areas where local employment is created. Businesses train the local youth and employ them in the units.
5) ‘Women Empowerment’: Majority of the units in SEZs employ 30% to 40% women on an average. Contribution of few production units like Brandix and apparel units in Andhra Pradesh is even higher with these providing employment to 18,000 women from surrounding villages comprising of over 90% employees. The leather units in Tamil Nadu employ 20,000 women from rural areas after training them.
Dr. Sharma added that if any foreign investor asks for say 200 acres of land to set up a factory, they face activists, NGOs and other interested locals and the projects get delayed whereas in the SEZs, space can be provided up to 500 acres without facing any problems. The investor can start construction in no time after getting ‘Single-Window Clearance’ and meet their investment objectives. The efforts of our Hon’ble Prime Minister to attract investments for ‘Make in India’ can be quickly put to results through the SEZs with plug and play kind of environment as available, he said.
He said there were many large projects that have been delayed that could have given a big push to the agendas of ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’, ‘Women Empowerment’. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor has been lingering for nine years, ECPIR Corridor between Kakinada-Visakhapatnam has made no significant progress and the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor seems to be forgotten. The recently announced manufacturing hubs have long gestation periods, and the coastal manufacturing hubs are yet to see the light of the day. Similarly, there are many projects in the pipeline that have made no much significant progress but have the potential to create employment or exports from India. Surely SEZs are the best bet to achieve the above goals.
Dr. Sharma said Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES) had urged for the government’s help in meeting some of its objectives, which are as follows:
(a) Restoration of original SEZ Act which had attracted a lot of interest to invest in this segment not only from the local entrepreneurs but also from foreign companies. The applications filed with Board of Approvals (BOA) between 2006 and 20011 are clear indication of interest shown by the Indian businessmen. Had there been no tinkering with the Act with the imposition of MAT and DDT and thereafter Sunset Clause, this segment could have changed the industrial scenario in the country and could have beaten China also.
The promises made in the SEZ Act 2005 had created an atmosphere of positive investment growth which still can be achieved if the original SEZ Act is restored.
The businessmen already in the SEZs do not want any concessions in any kind or form but only the restoration of original SEZ Act and Rules
(c) The Export Oriented Units (EOUs) were the first to push exports from India with ‘Make in India’ but this movement has lost its charm due to least attention to this segment. There is immediate requirement of revival of EOUs business and environment for the larger interests of local economy, employment generation and forex earnings.
(d) The GST is a welcome move with few irritants which seem to be inadvertent and needs to be corrected, like 18% GST on export of services from SEZs is leading to exports of taxes. If not corrected immediately, the services segment of SEZs business may move to other countries including as close as Sri Lanka or the new entrant Nepal or the Far East. (e) A non-tax issue of refund by the seller to SEZ units and developers need to be corrected to either seller or buyers claim the refund.
(f) Many EOUs whose input raw-material attract higher IGST when their finished products have seller GST are getting stuck with refund of larger amounts for long period affecting their working capital which is adding the cost of production. This needs to be corrected.
(g) The corrections required are very few as mentioned above but the benefits are very large and thus beneficial to the trade & industry and image of the government
Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs (EPCES) has been set up to service the export promotional needs of 100% Export Oriented Units (EOUs), Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Units and Special Economic Zone Developers in the country. Recognized by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, EPCES’ facilitates interaction between the exporting community and government both at the central and state level and canalizes financial assistance rendered by the central government to members for assisting their export market development efforts. It also enables collaboration with other export promotion councils/ export promotion organizations in India and similar bodies in foreign countries as well as with international organizations working in the field. EPCES represents the EOU/SEZ Sector, which has approximately 6,000 operational EOUs/SEZ Units/SEZ Developers spread all over the country which contributes to approximately 30% of national exports.
EPCES provides financial assistance to EOUs/SEZ units through Market Development Assistance (MDA) for export promotion activities abroad and is also instrumental in organizing Open Houses/Seminars/Workshops in different states of the country for resolving their problems and eliciting suggestions for policy making by Government. It takes up issues affecting EOUs/SEZs with various Ministries like Commerce, Finance, CBEC, CBDT, RBI, State Governments etc.
Silk farmers of Birbhum, Murshidabad and Nadia districts participated in a silk and sericulture fair here today.
The chairman of Central Silk Board, K M Hanumantharayappa, today inaugurated
the fair at the campus of Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute (CSRTI) in Behrampore, Murshidabad.
The chairman stressed the need for sensitising the silk farmers all over the country about the probitability of sericulture. “The sericulture research institutes of India have developed farming implements, which will be marketed in a subsidised rate. A new device worth Rs 14 lakh is being offered at Rs 10 lakh,” said the chairman of Central Silk Board.
“We need to increase production of silk because the amount of silk produced in India is not adequate. This makes room for import of silk from foreign countries like China, Japan, Korea etc.,” said Hanumantharayappa. The CSRTI at Behrampore, which commands jurisdiction over the east and north-eastern states, has developed one new variety of Bivoltine breed for production of quality silk, said Kanika Trivedi, director of CSRTI. “Farmers from Nadia, Birbhum and Murshidabad got a chance to see the works of our sericulture scientists displayed at the exhibition of Resham Krishi Meal-2018 today. We awarded 18 farmers from three districts for excellence in production.” A woman farmer, Shankari Mandal from Nalhati in Birbhum got the first prize.
The members of Tirupur Thozhil Pathukappu Kuzhu met Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel on Friday and discussed matters faced by textile industry in Tirupur.
Cash crunch
R. Annadurai, a textile businessman and organiser of TTPK, told The Hindu over phone from Mumbai that matters regarding packing credit, and the cash crunch faced by the textile sector subsequent to the introduction of the Goods and Service Tax, were presented before Mr. Patel. The members asked the apex bank to consider the outstanding packing credit for above 365 days as non-performing asset instead of the present practice of 180 days.
Loans
The RBI should exert pressure on banks to make loans available under the credit guarantee fund scheme for micro and small industries without any collateral at an interest rate of 5 per cent. Mr. Annadurai said the Governor asked us to represent the GST and duty drawback-related matters with the government. He promised to look into the grievances related to extension of credit, and cash crunch.
While SIDCO’s trade centre near Panchapur and SIPCOT’s industrial park near Manapparai have attained crucial stages in attracting and promulgating investments in Trichy, the other long pending demand to establish a mini textile park (MTP) seems far from becoming a reality. Even though the scheme to establish a MTP in Trichy was announced in 2015, no headway has been made to identify the required land. Sources in the state handlooms and textiles department said that Sethurapatti near Srirangam appears to be a possible site for establishing the park.
With the western districts like Coimbatore, Karur and Tirupur considered as the belt renowned for textile manufacturers reportedly reaching a saturation point, sources in small-scale industries said that investors are looking forward to expand their presence in non-textile manufacturing districts such as Trichy by citing the availability of land and manpower. Also, Trichy witnesses a floating population touching two lakh people per day mostly due to its geographical location and also for the iconic temples situated here.
Earlier in 2017, officials with the regional office of textile commissioner, functioning under the Union ministry of textiles asserted that Trichy holds vast potential to market textile products. Considering the positives, though the state government in 2015 announced that mini textile park sprawling over 10 acres would be established in Trichy, but little has done till now.
“In Puthanampatti village near Manapparai, units with readymade manufacturing cluster are even exporting their products. Provided we establish a proper platform with financial and technical support for interested investors in textile sector, not just in Trichy but in central districts there is a possibility for textile industry to flourish,” president of TIDITSSIA, N Kanagasabapathy said.
“Ten acres of land required for the textile park is yet to be identified and also the investment potential is yet to be studied,” an official source with handlooms and textile department said.
Suggestion made for earmarking 10 acres of land in SIPCOT industrial park in Manapparai:
Provided no appropriate land was identified, industrialists here suggested the handlooms and textile department to seek adequate lands from 1,050 acres SIPCOT industrial park to come up in Manapparai.
Three major investment catalysts for Trichy:
1) SIDCO trade centre, 9.4 acres in Panchapur
Status: SIDCO awaits enter-upon permission to commence construction works
2) SIPCOT Industrial Park, 1,050 acres, Manapparai
Status: Land acquired but environmental clearance needed to prepare layout for site
3) Mini textile park, minimum 10 acres needed.
Status: land yet to be identified
In another fall out of reduction of incentives like duty drawback and rebate of state levies (ROSL) on garment exports, total exports of ready-made garments from India has yet again registered a fall of more than 8% in December 2017 as compared to same period in 2016.
According to fresh data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI & S), exports in December 2017 fell to $1,336 million from $1,454 million in December 2016. This is for the third month in a row that exports of ready-made garments has taken a hit. As garment factories of Ludhiana constitute a major chunk of total exports, city businessmen are demanding that if government still did not announce relief to them in terms of enhancement of incentives and introduction of new subsidies, recovery was not possible in exports.
According to president of Ludhiana Business Forum Dinesh Kalra, “This is a warning sign for the economy and the government as well. The garment manufacturers and exporters are already under immense pressure to compete with low rates offered by exporters of other countries in the international market and reduction of subsidies has made export business more tough for us. The only way to save us from the turmoil is revising the rates of incentives that were reduced by the government recently.”
Speaking to TOI, finance secretary of Knitwear Club Harish Kairpal said, “This is perhaps for the first time that ready-made garments exports from India is taking such a severe beating that too for a third month in a row. It is direct outcome of the reduction of incentives by the Union government and if no corrective measures are taken by the government to tackle the situation, it will only get severe in the coming months.”
New Delhi, January 19 Kolhapuri and jute chappals, hand-embroidered shawls, bamboo furniture, hand-woven carpets and tapestries are among the 40 items identified as handicrafts and will attract lower goods and services tax. The proposal was cleared by the GST Council at its meeting on Thursday, after a committee of officials sifted through a list of over 500 handicrafts items that were sent by States.
Nil or 5 per cent levy Sources indicated that these are also likely to be taxed at nil or 5 per cent, like most other handicraft items. Further, the prevailing concessional rate of 5 per cent for job work on handicraft items will also be available.
However, hand-woven sarees and dresses, leather bags and wooden furniture have not been classified as handicrafts. Officials said that it was felt that sarees are already taxed at a concessional rate of 5 per cent under GST, while leather handbags and wooden furniture were seen as items of mass consumption. However, handbags, pouches and purses made of textiles, as well as kitchen and tableware made of clay and terracotta, will be considered handicrafts. The list also includes embroidery strips, silver filigree work, handmade imitation jewellery, hand-drawn paintings such as those from Mysuru, Rajasthan and Thanjavur, toys and dolls and even gamochas or traditional stoles as handicrafts.
Rates to be decided
The Fitment Committee of officers is now expected to finalise the rates on these items, and the matter will be taken up by the GST Council at its next meeting. The Committee has also proposed a definition of handicraft items as those that have a visual appeal, ornamentation, and possess distinctive features of artistic and cultural value.
While these goods mostly enjoyed exemption from central excise and value-added tax, many of them are now taxed at higher rates, of 12 per cent to 18 per cent. Over the last few months, States had repeatedly flagged the issue before the GST Council as the higher tax rates were hurting small industries and also impacting employment.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who chairs the GST Council, also said that the decision to lower rates will have a marginal fiscal cost but will protect and boost jobs.
State officials brief Centre on herbicide-tolerant variety
Telangana government has requested the Centre to formulate protocols and guidelines at the earliest to take steps to check the spread of herbicide tolerant variety cotton seed, popularly known as BG-III, which is not cleared by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), and is harming the biodiversity in the country.
A detailed presentation was made on the unauthorised spread of the unapproved cotton variety by Director of Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Authority K. Keshavulu here on Friday before the visiting team of Field-level Inspection and Scientific Evaluation Committee (FISEC) appointed by the Centre on the issue of BG-III. He also explained the initiatives taken by the State government in bringing the issue to the Centre’s notice constantly. The high-level team comprising officials from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR), Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University visited Jogulamba-Gadwal and Vikarabad districts on Thursday and Mancherial district on Friday before meeting the stakeholders, including seed growers, dealers, national and State seed associations at a meeting here.
Leader of the visiting team, chief scientific officer in DBT, V.S. Reddy, complimented the efforts of Telangana government in highlighting the issue at national-level. The team arrived in Telangana after studying the issue in Gujarat and would be in Andhra Pradesh for the next two days.
Agriculture Production Commissioner C. Parthasarathi said all the stakeholders are in total confusion on the issue of BG-III in the absence of any guidelines from the Centre since the seed was unapproved.
Dive Brief:
More than half (52%) of apparel shoppers who bought clothing online in the last six months said they shopped at Amazon, according to a survey of 1,500 U.S. shoppers from digital marketing agency CPC Strategy. Nearly half (47%) of shoppers gravitated toward retailer or brand websites. Men were more likely to shop Amazon, while women were more likely to buy from a retailer’s website, according to the survey. Of those who bought apparel on Amazon, 31% said it was because of its fast and free shipping, 26% cited their preference to shop for apparel on mobile, 25% cited low prices, and 20% said they value the ability to filter products, according to the report.
Shoppers, however, aren’t turning to Amazon for high fashion or high quality. More than half (54%) look for casual apparel like jeans and sundresses, and between 25% and 30% of shoppers look for athletic wear, outerwear, loungewear and basics. “The biggest takeaway for retailers is this: If you can’t compete with free shipping or low prices, then you need to have a very unique brand or high quality product,” according to the report.
From mobile apps to omnichannel marketing, Retail Dive: Mobile Commerce delivers the insights you need to improve your mobile commerce strategy.
Dive Insight:
Even CPC Strategy researchers, well aware of Amazon’s command of e-commerce, were caught off guard by its entrenchment in apparel sales, according to CEO and co-founder Rick Backus. “We knew that Amazon dominated most retail verticals,” he said in a statement. “But when we saw the survey results, we were pretty surprised that over 50% of shoppers opted to buy apparel most frequently on Amazon in the past six months.”
That means that, while Macy’s has suffered sales dips as it works through its painful-but-necessary downsizing Amazon has expanded and improved its apparel offering. Together, that has helped to make Cowen & Co.’s now-famous prediction — that Amazon would leapfrog Macy’s as America’s biggest apparel seller — closer to coming true.
It’s not some natural drift, though; Amazon is making it happen. Digital research firm L2 uncovered how diligently Amazon brings out best-sellers — using data from brands selling on its site to develop its own versions. Amazon Essentials’ top-performing item, for example, was the “Men’s Cotton Pique Polo Shirt,” markedly similar to Dockers’ “Men’s Short Sleeve Solid Poly Pique Polo Shirt” at half the price, L2 found. “With Levi’s/Dockers owning the second highest share of Best Sellers in the Men’s clothing category, this suggests Amazon’s private label brands pose the greatest threat to the very brands that are top of the category today,” noted L2.
Brands with a preexisting audience, however, do have the upper hand on Amazon, according to CPC Strategy’s report. That requires a brand promise based on more than price.
“If your brand stands for something, and has strong appeal on its own to consumers, then you’ll do great…Without brand as a guide to quality and lifestyle meaning, Amazon does very little to help you justify a price difference over something that looks very like what you already have,” Retail Systems Research Managing Partner Nikki Baird said, according to a statement in the report. “That’s why UGG has invested in Amazon presence like it has – it has the strength of its brand to back it. Sure, you can buy knockoffs, but if you want UGGs, nothing else will do.”
Fulfillment remains a conundrum, however. Amazon’s convenience play is strong, and respondents told CPC Strategy that free, fast shipping and easy returns are factors in shopping there. While those costs are high for everyone, only Amazon has the financial cushion to support that, thanks to its AWS cloud services.
Mobile is also increasingly a must, as more younger shoppers turn to their phones to at least browse for clothing, CPC Strategy found. By far, most (71%) online apparel shoppers head for their computers, while 26% prefer their phone (18%) or tablet (8%). But 18-24 year olds were the most likely (40%) out of all ages to report they would shop for apparel from their phone, and CPC Strategy noted that could be higher if more retailer mobile sites were easier to use.
Surat: Textile traders in country’s largest man-made fabric (MMF) hub have sought extension of deadline in the online e-way bill generation due to technical glitches in the Goods and Service Tax (GST) portal.
The traders’ community have been facing lot of difficulties on the GST portal due to technical glitches. Though the central government has launched the e-way bill generation on trial basis for the inter-state movement of goods above Rs 50,000 starting from January 16, the traders have demanded that implementation of e-way bill must be done only after ensuring the system works properly.
The traders have demanded that implementation of e-way bill should be deferred till March 31 or else it will hit the inter-state movement of goods from February 1 onwards.
For a seamless movement of goods across states, the GST Council, earlier this month, decided to go for early implementation of the e-way bill for inter-state movement of items from February 1 and uniform mandatory compliance from June 1 next year. An e-way bill is required for movement of goods worth more than Rs 50,000.
“The finance ministry has stated that the trader and transporters can start using this system on a voluntary basis from January 16 this year. But, a majority of traders are unable to upload their details or rather the system crashes in the middle of filing of details. On the other hand, the transporters are insisting on the e-way bill details, without which the goods are not loaded for transportation,” leader of the Federation of Surat Textile Traders’ Association (FOSTTA) Devkishan Menghani said. He added, “At this point of time, the government should first rectify the technical problems on the GST portal and then implement the e-way bill compliance. Till then, the government must extend the implementation of e-way bill.”
A large number of textile traders had gathered at Abhishek Market on Ring Road to address their problems to Navsari MP C R Paatil on Tuesday. The traders raised the issues related to filing of the returns, ITC-04 and other technical problems on the GST portal.
FOSTTA president Manoj Agarwal said, “Time and again we have raised our genuine concerns under GST, but the government is not ready to hear. We are ready to follow the rules, but the GST portal itself is not working. How are traders going to generate e-way bill, file returns etc when the portal is faulty?”
