|
The National Fibre Policy (NFP), which is expected to provide an impetus to the entire value chain across the textile sector, will now be unveiled in March 2010. The NFP was earlier scheduled to be announced in December 2009.
The NFP is expected to improve the competitiveness of the entire textile value chain beginning from man-made and natural fibres to value-added products, inclusive of the jute and handloom sector.
The other main objective of the policy is to remove disparity in the duties and pricing of various fibres along with which it is also expected to provide a boost to the still nascent technical textiles sector in India.
There is also a huge inequality in consumption of man-made and natural fibres. While global averages of usage of natural fibres like cotton versus MMF stand at 40:60, in India it is 60:40, which analysts consider a big anomaly.
The MMF industry is particularly demanding a rationalization of duties considering that the MMF industry attracts a plethora of taxes, while cotton fibre and yarn are exempted from various duties.
|
