Changes in import duties likely for Textile sector in Union Budget

New Delhi, Jan 9 (KNN) As a apart of the upcoming union budget, the central government is considering to announce certain alterations in the duty structure for the apparel and textile sector.

A senior government official told Mint that with this the centre intends to improve Indian competitiveness in cash-strapped Western markets.

Due to high cotton prices production days have been forced to cut down, said textile manufacturers.

“At the same time, exports of cotton yarn—a key raw material —are expected to register degrowth of 28-30 per cent in FY23 due to weakening global demand,” reported Mint.

“Our thinking is to avoid inverted [duty] structure in trade and to make sure that if it is necessary to import raw material, the price should not be excessive, which will make our final product uncompetitive,” the official cited above told Mint.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the GST Council decided to retain the status quo refraining from implementing a planned correction of tax anomaly in the textile sector that warranted an increase in the tax rate from 5 per cent to 12 per cent from January 1, last year.  (KNN Bureau)