Import duty on synthetic fibre may go

“We would like fibre-neutral policy. Like in the case of cotton where we do not have any duty, in synthetic fibre we would like to have that (duty removal) because it is a sunrise sector,” Textile Secretary Rita Menon told PTI.
The recommendation for removing import duty on the man-made fibre has been sent to the finance ministry which may act on it in the budget for this fiscal.
Five per cent duty is levied on import of this fibre. Besides, there is anti-dumping duty on quantitative basis.
Asked whether the move would not hurt the domestic synthetic fibre manufacturers, Menon said that there are only two players in the segment. Menon said the country is “relatively weak in synthetic fibre. As textiles, we are consumer industry. The entire chain - spinning, weaving and garmenting will get strong if duty is removed,” she said.
The industry has been demanding for waiver of the duty on import of synthetics fibre for long, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) said.  Textiles exports that account for the bulk of India’s outbound merchandise have been hit due to demand slowdown in the markets of the US and EU.