New Delhi, Aug 8 (KNN) In a bid to protect domestic textile sector from cheaper imports, government of India has announced the 20% import duty on more than 300 textile products.

India doubled the import tax from the existing rate of 10% to 20% to boost the ailing textile sector, promote local manufacturing and create employment opportunities.

The move came after the recommendation from the textile ministry, which had said that local manufacturing is suffering due to cheaper imports from China and other neighboring countries.

By imposing import duty, government will further enhance employment prospects of the job intensive sector like textile, which roughly employs about 10.5 crore people.

The import duty will make local manufacturing more competitive against the cheap imported products.

This is for the second time government increased import duty. Last month, the government had doubled import duty on over 50 textile products including jackets, suits and carpets to 20 per cent.

However, the 20 percent duty will not be applicable to products sourced from Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia countries due to the FTA.