Union Budget Brings Good Days for Indian Textile Industry as the Government Removes Anti-Dumping Duty on PTA Imports

The Union Budget 2020-21 has aimed to strengthen the textile industry by considering the industry’s long pending demand to abolish the anti-dumping duty being levied on PTA (Purified Terephthalic Acid), an important raw material for the textile fibres and yarns imported from different countries including Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Iran. The removal of anti-dumping duty will enable PTA to be available at competitive prices and give a boost to its downstream value-added products. This would enable the Ministry of Textiles to meet its target of increasing India’s textile market size from the current level of around USD 169 billion to USD 350 billion by 2025 and to USD 650 billion by 2030, which the industry envisions as per the drafted Textile Policy formulated by the Indian government. This would be possible only when polyester fibre and filaments are made available at international prices as the country has limitations to increase the fibre base within the country. The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA), Coimbatore, in a Press release stated that the anti-dumping duty on PTA holds from US$ 27 to US$ 160 per metric tonne depending on the country of import and hence India often faces shortage of PTA that limits the capacity utilization of country’s polyester industry. The announcement would improve country’s global competitiveness, increase exports and would enable domestic manufacturers to compete with the cheaper imports.