Sri Lankan garments to gain greater access to India

On a request made by Sri Lanka, India has agreed

to provide greater market access for Sri Lanka’s garment sector, the High Commission of India in Colombo announced in a release. During a meeting with the Indian Minister of Commerce, Industry & Textiles Anand Sharma in August 2012, Sri Lanka had requested the Indian government to relax the TRQ condition for fabric sourcing of 5 million pieces of Ready Made Garments (RMG) to India and for collaboration in textiles sector for the revival of textiles industry in Sri Lanka.

The minister had promised to give favourable consideration to both the requests. Following up on the commitment made, a high-level delegation led by Kiran Dhingra, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, visited Sri Lanka recently. The delegation held further discussions to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the textiles sector at government, institutional and business-to-business levels.

During the visit, Dhingra made two very significant announcements, which will provide greater market access to Sri Lanka in Indian domestic market in textile and apparel sector. The Indian government has accepted the Sri Lankan request for relaxation in the requirement of fabric sourcing for 5 million pieces of RMG export to India and necessary approval processes are underway for providing exemption to this condition. In a few weeks time, the notification is expected to be issued. Once the notification is issued, Sri Lanka will be able to export 8 million pieces of RMGs to India at zero duty under India- Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA).

Under the revised SAFTA duty regime notified by India for non-LDC countries, Sri Lankan textiles exports would attract a duty of 5 per cent as against the earlier 11 per cent. This will also facilitate greater Sri Lankan exports of readymade garments to India.