The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Textile mills to shut down today

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Wednesday, Jul 09, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Textile mills to shut down today

Special Correspondent

Protest against export of raw cotton

From 44 in 1990, there are only 31 mills in State now
In Tamil Nadu their number has gone up from 438 to 1,765

Bangalore: Textile mills in the State will shut down for a day on July 9, in response to a call by the Karnataka Textile Mills Association (KTMA), which is protesting against the export of raw cotton and the sharp increase in the price of the raw material.

The KTMA is an affiliate of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), which has called the nationwide action to highlight the cotton export policy. Nearly 6,000 workers, employed in 31 mills in the State, are likely to stay away from work on Wednesday.

The CITI has demanded that cotton exports be suspended immediately and that the one per cent incentive for export of raw cotton be withdrawn. It has also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the import duty of 14 per cent (10 per cent customs duty and 4 per cent additional customs duty) so that the industry can source cotton at affordable prices. It has also demanded that all cotton exports be canalised through the Cotton Corporation of India and other State marketing federations and that a five per cent duty be levied on exports.

C. Valliappa, chairman, KTMA, said the “escalating price of raw cotton has crippled the textile industry”. The strike is also meant to draw the attention of the Government to the sharp increase in operational costs in the textile industry. The price and quality of power is a “major issue for mills based in the State”. He claimed that the cost of power in Karnataka was almost Rs. 4.50 a unit, compared to less than Rs. 3.41 a unit in Andhra Pradesh and Rs. 3.30 in Maharashtra. This made textile units unviable in the State.

In decline

Mr. Valliappa said while the mill sector had declined in the State, the industry had expanded significantly in other States. While the number of mills in Karnataka had declined from 44 in 1990 to 31 in 2007, the number of mills in Tamil Nadu had increased from 438 to 1,765 in the same period.

He pointed out that although operational costs had increased by 17 per cent in the past year, there was only a marginal increase in the price of yarn sold by the spinning mills.

The Union Ministry of Textiles had, however, conceded that cotton prices had increased mainly because of exports and “the hoarding activities of middlemen”. But it had not stopped exports.

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