Arora takes up issue of imported Chinese fabric during special mention in Parliament

Ludhiana, February 7, 2024: MP (Rajya Sabha) from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora during special mention in the ongoing budget session of Rajya Sabha has expressed his concern over dumping of fabrics imported from China at unfair import duty in Indian market.

Arora termed the unfair dumping of synthetic knitted fabrics as a “critical issue”, which is gripping the Indian textile industry. He pointed out that this practice has created immense pressure on domestic players, jeopardizing jobs, revenue, and the very core of our production capacity.

He said the polyester industry, currently operating at 70%, faces an unprecedented threat due to unfairly priced imports from China for the past year. 

Arora categorically stated that unless immediate action is taken, this threat has the potential to cripple Indian industry, reducing capacity to less than 50% and causing widespread job and revenue losses.

He mentioned that the import prices of knitted fabrics from China are even lower than Indian yarn export prices. This blatant pricing disparity highlights the unfair advantage enjoyed by Chinese manufacturers, putting our domestic industry at a severe disadvantage.

Further, Arora sought that steps may be taken to restrict the import of fabrics from China and protect vital Indian industry. He said, “We need concrete measures to create a level playing field and safeguard the livelihoods of millions of our citizens.”

He suggested that the government may consider aligning the import customs duty on knitted fabrics with that of woven fabrics. This move would help rectify the existing imbalance and provide much-needed support to our domestic producers.

Arora urged upon the government to take immediate action, implement effective trade protection measures, and ensure a fair and sustainable environment for Indian domestic textile industry.

Meanwhile, local industry has appreciated Arora’s initiative to highlight the burning issue in Rajya Sabha. Gagan Khanna, CMD, Arisudana Industries Ltd said this is perhaps for the first time that a Member Parliament has raised the issue of textile industry in Rajya Sabha. He said Arora is doing fantastic work for betterment of the industry. He said Arora had earlier raised this issue before many concerned including Finance Minister. He said Arora wants that the issue may be addressed at the earliest possible time. He pointed out that the country is generating a revenue loss of more than Rs.10,000 crore per annum due to fabrics imported from China.

Rajneesh Gupta, Director, Balaji Finishing Mills Pvt Ltd said it is appreciable that Arora has raised the issue in Rajya Sabha. Earlier also, this issue has been raised at various platforms by many others but nothing concrete has been done so far, resulting to which Indian industry has been suffering badly. He said now there is a ray of hope that the issue will be addressed soon. He said due to dumping of fabrics imported from China at unfair prices in Indian market no new industry is coming up. Rather, existing industries are shutting down due to heavy losses. 

Mukesh Jain (Bittu Navkar), MD, Navkar Dyeing has also welcomed Arora’s initiative to protect interests of the industry. He said it is really laudable that Arora has raised the key issue of the industry in Rajya Sabha. He said Arora is working hard for betterment and welfare of industry. He said the whole industry should give its support to Arora on the issue so that it may be address as early as possible.