T.N. Federation of Powerlooms Associations urges centre to abolish anti-dumping duty imposed on Viscose Staple Fibre

Chennai, Jan 3 (KNN) The Tamil Nadu Federation of Powerlooms Associations in a letter to the Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman has appealed to the government to reject the abnormal duty rate recommended by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) on Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF).

In the letter, the federation pointed out that the high volatility in cotton prices has had a severe impact on the powerloom sector and the timely removal of anti-dumping duty on Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), monoethylene glycol (MEG), Polyester Staple Fibre, Acrylic Fibre and Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) enabled the powerloom sector to diversify into manmade fabric (MMF).

The letter claimed that if the anti-dumping duty is imposed, the entire power loom sector in the country, especially in Tamil Nadu, would face closure, as per a report in the Hindu.

In Tamil Nadu, over 2 lakh power looms had switched over to 100 per cent VSF. The removal of the abnormal anti-dumping duty of 28 per cent levied on imported VSF enabled the sector to increase the 100 per cent VSF fabrics exports from 25.49 million sq m during 2019-20 to 61.39 million sq m during 2021-22.

DGTR earlier had rejected the continuation of ADD on VSF in August 2021. “But, the DGTR has now recommended levying 28 per cent ADD on VSF to protect the interest of only one VSF manufacturer in the country,” it said.

The power loom sector in India is the largest woven cloth manufacturing sector, accounting for 85 per cent of the total cloth produced in the country. 

Currently, there are around 3.86 lakh power loom units in the decentralized sector and 25 lakh power looms, including around 1.5 lakh shuttle-less looms, providing direct jobs to around 5 million people.   (KNN Bureau)