Chennai, May 14 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately remove the 11 per cent import duty on cotton, warning that the state's textile and apparel sector was facing a severe crisis due to spiralling raw material costs.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Vijay said the sharp increase in cotton and yarn prices had put immense pressure on garment manufacturers and threatened the livelihoods of lakhs of workers dependent on the sector.
Describing Tamil Nadu as India's largest textile and apparel exporting state, the Chief Minister added that the industry provided direct and indirect employment to lakhs of people, particularly women from rural and semi-urban areas.
"The textile and apparel industry in Tamil Nadu is undergoing a severe crisis because of the unprecedented rise in cotton and yarn prices," Chief Minister Vijay said in the letter.
According to the Chief Minister, the price of cotton has increased from Rs 54,700 to Rs 67,700 per candy during the last two months, registering a steep rise of nearly 25 per cent.
Yarn prices, too, have gone up from Rs 301 per kg to Rs 330 per kg during the same period.
Chief Minister Vijay said the increase was primarily due to a shortage in domestic cotton production and heightened trading activity across the country, which had disrupted the supply chain and affected textile manufacturers.
He added that continued supply of raw materials could now be ensured only through imports, but the existing 11 per cent import duty on cotton was making imports expensive and unviable for the industry.
"Permitting duty-free cotton imports will help the industry meet increasing export commitments and remain globally competitive," the Chief Minister said.
Emphasising the importance of the textile sector in employment generation, Chief Minister Vijay noted that after agriculture, the textile and apparel industry remained one of the country's largest job creators.
"Hence, there is a significant responsibility on the government to safeguard the employment of lakhs of people and ensure the sustainability of the textile value chain," he said.
Chief Minister Vijay urged the Centre to reduce the cotton import duty from the existing 11 per cent to zero, saying the move would help stabilise raw material availability, protect jobs, boost exports, and enhance the global competitiveness of India's textile industry.
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