A lukewarm budget for the textile sector

Budget 2007-08 was lukewarm for the textiles sector. Announcing sops for the sector, finance minister, P Chidambaram said that the rejuvenated textile industry is geared to meet the global challenge.

He said that under the scheme for integrated textiles parks (SITP), 26 of the sanctioned 30 parks have been approved and announced to increase the provision for these parks from Rs189 crore in 2006-07 to Rs425 crore in 2007-08.

The ''technology upgradation fund'' is to be continued under the eleventh plan and will cover handlooms also. The TUF allocation will be increased from Rs535 crore in 2007-07 to Rs911 crore in the coming fiscal year.

The handloom sector will see an additional 100-150 clusters. The health insurance covering 3 lakh weavers will be extended to more weavers and would include ancillary workers also. Chidambaram proposed to enhance the allocation for the sector from Rs241 crore in 2006-07 to Rs321 crore in 2007-08.

Taking the measures for man made fibres and yarns forward from last year, custom duty on polyester fibres and yarns has been reduced from 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent. Custom duty for important raw materials such as dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), purified terephthalic acid (PTA), mono ethylene glycol (MEG) has been reduced from 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

Reacting to the Budget, Sunil Gupta, director, Gupta Synthetics said, "The Union Budget is lackluster. It has no special benefits for the synthetic yarn industry and demands of the industry have been ignored."