SIMA's new president urges government to announce new technology mission for cotton
SIMA's new president urges government to announce new technology mission for cottonSundararaman, managing director of Coimbatore-based Shiva Texyarn Ltd, has been elected as the president of the Southern India Mills Association for 2023-24.There is an urgent need for the Center to announce a new technology mission for cotton with large scale funding. This has become necessary as more than 7 million farmers and 35 million people in the textile value chain are directly dependent on the availability of quality cotton at internationally competitive rates, said KS Sundararaman, newly elected president of the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA). ,Sundararaman, managing director of Coimbatore-based Shiva Texyarn Ltd, was elected president for 2023-24 at the 64th annual general meeting of the association held on Thursday.Durai Palanisamy, executive director of Pallava Textiles P Ltd, Erode, was elected vice-chairman and S Krishnakumar, managing director of Sulochana Cotton Spinning Mills P Ltd, Tiruppur, was elected vice-chairman, according to a release.India's average cotton productivity is only around 430 kg per hectare, while more than 20 cotton-producing countries achieve an average above 1,500 kg per hectare. Lauding the pilot project launched by the Agriculture Ministry with a budget outlay of ₹44.2 crore on the intervention of the Textiles Ministry, Sundararaman said there is an urgent need to import modern seed technology and adopt global best practices in agronomy. This will increase the income of farmers three times and the country will become a major player in the cotton textile industry.The Indian textile and clothing industry has been facing challenges in recent times mainly due to structural issues on the raw material front, tariff and non-tariff barriers, high cost of production and scale of operations, high transportation and capital costs and other external factors. Have to face. ,Notably, it is the second largest employment provider after agriculture, generating employment for over 110 million people, generating over ₹30,000 crore GST revenue and $44 billion foreign exchange earnings, the release said .The industry focused on cotton and its textile products, taking advantage of the abundant availability of domestic cotton, which was available at 5 percent to 10 percent less than the international cotton price.However, this profit has declined in recent years due to the dominance of multinational cotton traders, imposition of 11 per cent import duty and speculative trading on the MCX cotton futures platform. Man-made fiber (MMF) and yarn producers were protected by heavy anti-dumping duty of up to 23 per cent.He appreciated the initiative of the Center in removing anti-dumping duty on all raw materials, especially polyester staple fiber and viscose staple fiber—major MMF raw materials. However, the smooth supply of MMF and filaments has been stopped due to the new quality control orders as BIS has not considered most of the raw material suppliers in India, he said.The ban on imports under the Advance Authorization Scheme has created a stir. He said that MMF Value Chain has established its eponymous business based on certain commitments. They also have large export obligations under EPCG as they have made huge investments in imported machinery by availing duty free concession, the release said.
