Rupee appreciation is continuing to cast its gloomy cloud over the Indian textile sector that engages nearly 25 million workers and accounts for being the largest employment generating sector of the country.
According to the estimates of, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), unemployment in the textile industry has reached five lakh for this year and in April alone the figures touched 35,000 because of rupee appreciation followed by an acute decline of 18.25 percent in exports.
While exports receded 6.8 percent during April and May, cotton yarn saw a drop of 9.9 percent. Compared to the US $19 billion textile exports of the previous year, the industry aimed to reach $25 billion which seems far from reality under the present circumstances.
CITI has urged the Government to increase duty drawback and reduce interest rates for pre and post shipment credit. It has also claimed an exemption from service tax. Experts believe that nearly 80-90 percent of the exports are affected by fluctuation in dollar and with this present appreciation of rupees, textile mills workers are becoming the worst struck victims as the companies are laying off workers to contain costs.
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