Special Package & Way Forward
Investments to the tune of 623 Crore pledged within 120 hours
New Delhi, 28/06/2016, The government’s revelation of special package of reforms for the textile and apparel sector has raised queries among the media and industry professionals alike. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) organized a press conference on Tuesday to unravel the details of the execution plan and the way forward. The conference was conducted in the halls of Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi at 11 am. Mrs. Sunaina Tomar, IAS, Joint Secretary (Exports), Ministry of Textiles, was present at the conference along with Mr. Ashok G. Rajani, Chairman – AEPC,Mr. H K L Magu, Vice Chairman – AEPC and Mr. Vijay Mathur, ASG – AEPC.
The conference commenced with Mr. HKL Magu’s welcome remarks. Taking over, Mr. Rajani gave an introduction and explained AEPC’s approach towards the package and a roadmap to achieve the targets. Mr. Rajani said, “We not only have to reach the target of 30 billion, that the government has set for us, but we have to go ahead and exceed that target. With our strategies and the reforms, I don’t think that this is going to be very difficult”. He presented the following four strategies as a part of AEPC’s road map:
- Strategy 1: Strategy for HS Code wise promotion of Garment.
- Strategy 2: To accelerate export growth rate in preferential market and market diversification.
- Strategy 3: Facilitate input availability for enhancing competitiveness and speed to delivery.
- Strategy 4: Roadmap for Publicity Plan and Review
Mrs. Sunaina Tomar delivered a special address on the expectation of the government from textile and apparel sector. She thanked the government for introducing labour friendly reforms and went on to say that, “The reforms have been initiated for the betterment of the labour, like the government bearing the employers’ contribution of the EPF Scheme for those earning less than Rs 15,000 per month, for the first three years. This will leave more money in the hands of the labour”. On being asked whether the target mentioned in the policy seems unachievable, Mrs. Tomar said in an affirmative tone, “It is an achievable task and I am sure our industry will achieve it. “ She also requested Mr. Rajani to formulate a time bound action plan as to what needs to be done to generate the extra employment.
This was followed by a pledge session. Wherein, pledges taken in the last 120 hrs were announced. Further, this opportunity was extended to the esteemed industry guests. The handing over of the pledges to Chairman AEPC marked the end of the session.
As of now, a total investment of 623 Crore has been pledged. The number of employment which will be generated out of this investment has been estimated at 30120. All this has been done within the last 5 days, with passage of time more and more industrialists are expected to come forward and pledge towards the achievement of this target. The industries which have come up with maximum investment pledges are: Texport Industries Pvt. Ltd., Texport Syndycate and Midas Touch Export Pvt. Ltd.
The press conference came to an end with a Question and Answer round, the Chairman and the other dignitaries replied to the questions asked to them.
