Ludhiana knitwear firms expect excise waiver

Ludhiana’s knitwear industry is expecting the excise

duty imposed on branded garments in 2011 shall be waived off in this year’s Budget. “For industrialists, the imposition of excise duty on branded garments in the Union Budget 2011 was a big shocker and has led to harassment and unnecessary burdens on manufacturers,” points out Darshan Dawar, President, Ludhiana Knitwear Club in his memorandum submitted to Sumit Bose, Secretary Revenue, Ministry of Finance, for pre-budget suggestions.

“Already, the textile industry is facing threats from garments imported from China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, mainly because they are cheaper,” he said. “Since the knitwear industry is finding it tough to increase prices of hosiery products in proportion, it fears that it may lose its identity as a ‘hosiery cluster’,” added Dawar.

Dawar also demanded reservation for small and medium-scale units under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) scheme. “From the allotted funds for TUFS, a minimum 50 per cent should be reserved for the small and medium scale sector,” he said. The hosiery and textile industry is looking to address the labour shortage problem by upgrading their technology so that the requirement of labour is minimised. TUFS has helped textile industries to get mechanised.

The industry also has requested P Chidambaram to allot an exhibition centre for the Ludhiana hosiery industry.