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The cotton farmers of Periyavadagampatti village, near Kadayampatti, have complained about the poor quality of cotton seeds supplied by private concerns and demanded compensation for the financial loss suffered by them.In a petition submitted to the District Collector recently, the farmers said that the representatives of a few private agro concerns and their agents approached the farmers one month in advance assuring supply of good quality seeds.
Believing their words, the cotton farmers of the village procured seeds from them. Despite the farmers spending about Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 25,000 per acre, the yield was very poor, the petition said. They demanded action against the private concerns and also urged the district administration to direct them to provide adequate compensation to the affected farmers.
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Retail sales of fertilizers shall now be sold only through Point of Sale (PoS) devices starting from January 1, 2018, in order to monitor the fertilizer subsidy for farmers. All retail sales has now been linked with PoS devices and issue of fertilizers against subsidy for farmers will be made only on producing the Aadhaar card. In order to electronically monitor the direct subsidy of fertilizers given to the fertilizer companies for the benefit of beneficiaries, the retail sale of fertilizers is linked through PoS, the administration has said.
According to the administration, over 132 primary agriculture cooperative societies and 255 private fertilizer retailers have been issued PoS devices in August 2016 here in the district. According to the release, farmers are expected to produce the Aadhaar card in order to get the fertilizer. This was to ensure there was no pilferage of fertilizer subsidy through illegal sale. Further, farmers will also be guaranteed that the fertilizers will not be hoarded or sold past their expiry date, the release said. Further the administration has warned of cancellation of licences of dealers, if sale of fertilizer is made without proper billing. Farmers have been urged to report to the Joint Director of Agriculture, Dharmapuri, in the event of sale of fertilizers without billing.
Kay Ventures Private Limited, an apparel manufacturing firm based in Karur, Tamil Nadu, has proposed to set up an apparel park on the outskirts of Telangana’s Sircilla town that will generate over 10,000 jobs. Company CEO S Susindran and vice president Sampath Kalirajan recently inspected space for the proposed park and the existing textile park in the town. They also met district collector D Krishna Bhaskar to discuss their plans and told him about their intentions to impart training in sewing and apparel production to women so that products can be exported to leading firms, according to a report in top south Indian daily. The company plans to provide 5,000 sewing machines to the 10,000 employees. The firm plans to include knitted garments in its park. A comprehensive project report would be submitted to the collector by January 10.
Nagpur: The pink bollworm crisis, which hit the state’s cotton farmers, has taken a new turn. The companies that make Bt cotton seeds have threatened to stop manufacturing the genetically modified variety, which is supposed to be resistant against bollworm. A letter sent by National Seeds Association of India (NSAI) to joint secretary (seeds) in the union agriculture ministry says that its members may stop making the current version of Bt cotton seeds from this month, if their demands are not accepted.
The seed makers are under fire from state government, which has announced that manufacturers would have to pay a part of the compensation payable to cotton growers for losses due to pink bollworm attack. The seed makers also hinted at plans to move the court against the state government order.
There 300 companies using the technology offered by US multinational Monsanto. The American company has formed a joint-venture, Mahyco Monsanto Biotech Limited (MMBL), to operate in India. The technology is routed through MMBL for a charge of Rs49 per bag of Bt cotton seeds, says NSAI.
As the state plans to penalize seed companies, the NSAI has said it is Monsanto or MMBL — the technology provider — which is to be blamed. At present, the BG II variety of seeds, which have two bollworm resistant genes, are available in the market.
The NSAI said in its letter dated January 1 to the joint secretary that the second gene introduced in the seed is not effective against the bollworm. Since the seed companies cannot remove the second gene, even though it is not effective, the government should do away with the fee payable to MMBL on each bag. Once the fee component is removed, it can be treated at par with any other non-Bt hybrid cotton seed. No resistance against pink bollworm should be expected from it after that, the NSAI said.
The letter further says that if the ministry of agriculture still decides to impose the fee, a clear notification may be issued that the developer — Monsanto or MMBL in this case — is completely responsible for the efficacy against the pest. “If such clarity is not brought about, we will be constrained to stop producing and marketing Bt cotton hybrids with the two gene trait,” says the NSAI letter.
The association has also asked the central department to clarify to the Maharashtra government that while seed companies are responsible for the quality parameters, they have no role in maintaining efficacy of the gene trait. The matter was brought to notice in February 2016 itself, but MMBL did not give it any importance, says NSAI.
A fire that broke out in a cotton mill burnt down a stock of cotton bails in Bailhongal on Tuesday.
Nearly 10,000 quintals of cotton was destroyed in the fire. No one was injured.
Fire and Emergency Services personnel from Bailhongal rushed to the spot and put out the fire after an hour. Muttu Metgud, factory owner, has complained to the police stating that a short circuit caused the fire. Mr. Metgud is related to a former MLA. A case has been registered.
The next year also may turn out to be a challenging time for India’s textile and garment industry, as exporters are still bleedingfollowing the impact of GST and exports are probably going to miss the USD 45 billion target for 2017-18. Garment exporters have been repeatedly asking that the duty reimbursement should be retained at the pre-GST drawback rate of 7.5 per cent, following fallingexports of the country’s apparel — recording a fall of 39 per cent in value terms in October. On the flip side of the coin, India’s cotton production is forecast to reach 37.7 million bales in the year beginning October 1, up from 34.5 million bales produced in 2016/17. As per data from the Textile Ministry, the production of import substitute bivoltine silk in the country is forecast to touch around 6,200 million tonnes (MT) in 2017-18 as against 5,266 MT a year ago, registering an increase of 19 per cent,
2017 turned out to be a mixed blessing for the textile segment. While initiatives were implemented for power loom units and weavers, the much-awaited new National Textiles Policy is yet to see the dawn of the day.
Recently, a Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector to enhance skill development and job creation was launched with an outlay of Rs 1,300 crore. 10 lakh people are expected to be skilled and certified in various segments of textile sector through the scheme, out of which 1 lakh will be in traditional sectors. The year also witnessed the first mega international trade event for the textile sector, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on 30 June.
The event recorded participation from over 100 countries and a total of 65 MoUs with an estimated value of over Rs 11,000 crore were signed during the expo. India Handmade Bazaar, an online portal to provide direct market access to artisans and weavers, was launched in January.
In November, the Textiles Ministry notified post-GST rates under the scheme for Remission of State Levies (RoSL) on exports of readymade garments and made-ups. For garments, the rates range from around 1.25 per cent and 1.70 per cent and for made-ups, they range between 1.40 per cent and 2.20 per cent effective from October.
The Government also enhanced the rates under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) on readymade garments and made-ups from 2 per cent to 4 per cent. The rates will be applicable between November 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.As India faces heavy competition from countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, amongst other factors, the need of the hour is a holistic solution that encompasses all segments of the textiles industry. This, say industry experts will enhance the country’s exports which have remained stagnant for the past four fiscals.
The Telangana government ushered in the New Year on Monday by gifting farmers 24-hour free power supply for agricultural purposes. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao described the initiative as a “wonderful victory”, according to an official statement. “With 24-hour quality, uninterrupted and free power to the farm sector, Telangana will go down in the history as the first state in the country which is supplying round-the-clock power to all sectors,” he said.
“Though it was not mentioned in the Telangana Rashtra Samitis manifesto (during the Assembly elections in 2014) nor it ever made any promise, keeping in view the untold misery of the farmers, it was decided to supply 24-hour free power,” the chief minister said.
Though round-the-clock power is provided in some other states as well, it is charged. Except Telangana, no other state in the country is giving 24-hour free power supply to the farm sector, he said.
Rao congratulated all the officials concerned and said everyone in the country was looking up to Telangana for the “revolutionary” changes that took place in the power sector.
The chief minister today held a meeting with TS Genco, Transco CMD D Prabhakar Rao and other senior officials of power utilities in the backdrop of launching the 24-hour supply to the farm sector.
As many as 23 lakh agricultural pump sets would be provided free power from December 31 midnight, the government had said last month. The initiative would push the overall power demand to 11,000 MW by March this year.
“By spending Rs 12,610 crore in setting up new power lines, transformers and sub-stations, the state power utilities have made elaborate arrangements for power supply,” the government had earlier said.
The installed power capacity has grown from 6,573 MW as on June 2, 2014 to 14,913 MW as on today with an “ultimate capacity of 28,000 MW in the near future”, the government said.
Meanwhile, state-owned Singareni Collieries Company said in the wake of the government’s decision to supply 24-hour free power to agricultural pump sets in the state, the PSU is geared up to supply coal to all the power plants which have tie-ups with it for fuel supply.
The ministry of finance has simplified the regulations to rectify the error made by the businesses during the filing of returns – GSTR-3B. Several representations were received by the government seeking clarifications on various aspects of return filing such as return filing dates, amendment of errors in submitting/filing of GSTR-3B and other queries. Now, the relaxation will allow the businesses to rectify the mistakes made during the calculation of GST liability which came into effect from July 1. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in a recent communication to field officers has said “as return in Form GSTR-3B does not contain provisions for reporting of differential figures for past month(s), the said figures may be reported on net basis along with the values for current month itself in appropriate tables…”
Further, there can be no negative entries in the Form GSTR-3B while making adjustment in the output tax liability or input tax credit. “The amount remaining for adjustment, if any, may be adjusted in the return(s) in Form GSTR3B of subsequent month(s) and, in cases where such adjustment is not feasible, refund may be claimed,” the CBEC said. There is a facility to edit the information in Form GSTR-3B which can be used only before offsetting the liability. The rectification cannot be made after offsetting the liability.
In the previous circular released by CBEC on September 1, 2017, it was clarified that errors committed while filing Form GSTR – 3B may be rectified while filing Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-2 of the same month.
Coimbatore Customs will be in charge of Commissioner of Customs – Tiruchi from January 15, according to an official communication.
The plan earlier was to effect the change from November 1. Following representations from trade and industry here against the move, it was postponed to January. A recent communication says that the change will be effective from January 15. “We do not know whether there will be any further deferment of the plan as the industry here has opposed it. But, as of now the proposal is to make the change effective from January 15,” said an official.
Coimbatore Customs covers four Inland Container Depots – two in Tirupur and two in Coimbatore, the air cargo complex and the Coimbatore airport. The goods exported and imported from these include engineering items, textile products, sugar, machinery, accessories, and coir.
Industries here continue to demand that Coimbatore should be the regional head quarters for Customs. “We understand that there were discussions already in this regard and the officials felt that Tiruchi is centrally located in the State. However, Coimbatore is a major industrial hub and the range of products exported or imported from here is huge. So, this should be the main Customs centre,” said an industry representative here.
Another industry source added that there are not many in the trade and industry who have understood the implications of the change as they feel it is only an administrative rework. Even the zonal GST meeting, which used to be conducted here once in three or four months, has been shifted to Chennai. “We will continue to pursue with the Government to have a senior official for Customs here,” said the source.
Pakistan textile exports have been going up steadily, in the first five month (July to November) of the current fiscal year textile shipment jumped 7.66 percent year-on-year to $5.51 billion driven primarily by a surge in value added textile exports. This positive sign raises expectations that full-year proceeds likely to touch $13 billion after a hiatus of two years.
In a review of the industry’s performance in the outgoing year 2017, Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) Chairman Shaiq Jawed said that textile shipments had been on an upsurge since the start of 2017-18 in July following a continued fall in the previous fiscal year.
After hitting the peak at $13.73 billion in 2013-14, textile exports dropped to $13.47 billion in 2014-15 and $12.44 billion in 2015-16. Afterwards, they inched up 0.04% at $12.45 billion in 2016-17, but were still lower by more than a billion dollars than the peak.
Propped up by cash incentives under the prime minister’s trade package, textile exports took off, but challenges were still there that should be addressed to further ramp up growth, Jawed said.
Pointing to the industry’s lack of competitiveness both in domestic and international arenas, he called the high cost of energy a serious concern as the textile sector heavily banked on energy supplies to run its operations smoothly.
In Pakistan, the industrial gas tariff was almost 100% higher and electricity price was about 50% higher compared to regional competitors.
Punjab-based industries are compelled to consume high-priced regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) in winter, which puts them at a disadvantage compared to industrial units in other provinces.
The liquidity stuck in the tax refund system is another stumbling block; exporters are waiting for the release of billions of rupees blocked in sales tax, income tax and customs duty rebate claims, which has sparked severe liquidity crunch. If these payments are released, the exporters can utilize the money on trade expansion.
Pakistan textile industry has not made enough investment in technology because of which productive capacity of the sector has remained stagnant. Technological advancement is another area where textile industry has trailed its competitors.
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