Latest news with #AgricultureInfrastructureandDevelopmentCess
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Cotton import duty exemption a death warrant to farmers, says Samyukt Kisan Morcha
The Union Textile Ministry said in New Delhi on Tuesday (August 19, 2025) that the decision to exempt all customs duties on the import of raw cotton until September 30 was meant to stabilise domestic cotton prices and support the textile industry. Meanwhile, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella organisation of several farmers' outfits, alleged that the move signalled a death warrant to cotton farmers. The SKM said it strongly protested the notification to eliminate the import tariff on cotton as it would have a direct impact on the domestic price of cotton. 'Cotton price will definitely fall and farmers will face further distress and indebtedness,' the SKM said, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of duplicity and betrayal, and asking him to explain his earlier statement that farmers were his government's highest priority. In the past 11 years, the SKM said cotton farmers were never given a minimum support price for cotton, as recommended by the M.S. Swaminathan Commission. 'The entire cotton area is the highest peasant suicide prone region of India. The elimination of import duty on cotton will further eliminate the livelihood of lakhs of cotton farmer households,' the SKM said. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Textiles said in a statement that the exemption includes the removal of both the 5% Basic Customs Duty, the 5% Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, and a 10% Social Welfare Surcharge on both, cumulatively resulting in an 11% import duty on cotton. 'The decision, notified by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, is expected to lower input costs across the textile value chain encompassing yarn, fabric, garments, and made-ups and provide much needed relief to manufacturers and consumers alike,' the Ministry said, adding that the government aims to enhance the availability of raw cotton in the domestic market, stabilise cotton prices, and thereby reduce inflationary pressure on finished textile products, and support export competitiveness of Indian textile products by lowering production costs. The move will protect small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the textile sector, which are more vulnerable to price fluctuations, the government said.
Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Textile stocks rally after Govt suspends cotton import duty
Shares of six major textile companies surged between 2.14% and 8.22% following the government's decision to suspend the import duty on cotton from August 19 to September 30. Raymond Lifestyle (up 8.22%), Vardhman Textiles (up 7.50%), Arvind (up 3.73%), Welspun Living (up 3.46%), Indo Count Industries (up 2.21%), Gokaldas Exports (up 2.14%) surged. The Finance Ministry on Monday eliminated the 11% duty on cotton imports with immediate effect, citing the need to safeguard competitiveness amid concerns over job losses triggered by steep US tariffs that risk making Indian products uncompetitive in the countrys largest export market. The notification states that the removal of both the import duty and the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) is in the public interest and will remain in force from August 19 through September 30. The textile industry is particularly vulnerable to the elevated US tariffs, especially since the US accounts for a significant share of Indias ready-made garment exports. While India faces a 50% tariff rate, competing countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam are subject to tariffs of 20%, and Indonesia and Cambodia at 19%. Industry experts welcomed the government's timely intervention, citing that the duty suspension will help bring domestic cotton prices closer to international levels, improve Indias cost competitiveness against regional rivals, and provide a much-needed boost to export prospects.
News18
2 days ago
- Business
- News18
Govt allows duty free import of cotton till Sept 30
Agency: PTI Last Updated: New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) The government has allowed duty-free import of raw cotton till September 30 to improve the availability of the key raw material for the textile sector. Cotton was so far subject to an 11 per cent import duty along with the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC). According to a Finance Ministry notification dated August 18, the duty exemption will take effect from August 19 and shall remain in force till September 30. The scrapping of the import duty is expected to ensure raw material availability at globally competitive rates for the textile sector. Domestically, the sector also faces duty inversion under the GST regime. The import duty relief by India comes at a time when Indian exporters, including the textile sector, face a steep 50 per cent duty in the US. view comments First Published: August 19, 2025, 13:45 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Loading comments...
News18
3 days ago
- Business
- News18
Govt waives customs duty on cotton Imports till September 30
By Shailesh YadavNew Delhi [India], August 19 (ANI): In a major relief to the textile and garment industry, the Central Government on Monday announced a complete waiver of customs duty and Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on the import of raw cotton. According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance, the exemption will be applicable on cotton falling under heading 5201 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The waiver will come into effect from August 19, 2025, and remain valid till September 30, Finance Ministry said the decision was taken in public interest to ease raw material costs for domestic manufacturers and exporters at a time when the textile sector has been facing price volatility and supply experts believe the move will help stabilize yarn prices, improve competitiveness of Indian garments in global markets, and support small and medium enterprises in the textile value temporary duty relief is expected to bring down input costs for fabric and garment manufacturers, especially ahead of the festive season when demand for cotton-based products notification makes it clear that the exemption will cease after September 30 unless extended further by the India's GDP growth projection is at 6.7 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year which is higher than the RBI estimates of 6.5 per cent, according to rating agency agency noted that however GDP expansion has eased from 7.4 per cent in Q4 FY2025, while it outpaces the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC's) recent forecast of 6.5 per rating agency also said the growth in gross value added (GVA) is expected to ease to 6.4 per cent in Q1 FY2026 from 6.8 per cent in Q4 slowdown in the industrial sector and agriculture is likely to offset the strong performance of the services growth is estimated to fall to 4.0 per cent in Q1 FY2026 from 6.5 per cent in the previous quarter, while agriculture growth is projected at 4.5 per cent compared with 5.4 per cent earlier. On the other hand, services are set to rise to an eight-quarter high of 8.3 per cent, up from 7.3 per also expects a double-digit rise in net indirect taxes in nominal terms, though lower than the 22.7 per cent recorded in Q4 FY2025. This improvement comes from a sharp increase in the Government of India's indirect taxes, which grew by 11.3 per cent in Q1 FY2026 against a contraction of 3.1 per cent in Q4 the same time, the subsidy outgo contracted at a narrower pace of 7.3 per cent, compared with 40.7 per cent in the previous quarter. Because of this, the gap between GDP and GVA growth is expected to stay positive at about 30 basis points in Q1 FY2026, though lower than the 62 basis points in Q4 spending has played a key role in boosting growth. Based on CGA data, the Centre's gross capital expenditure surged 52.0 per cent year-on-year to Rs. 2.8 trillion in Q1 FY2026, compared with 33.4 per cent growth in Q4 FY2025 and a 35.0 per cent contraction in Q1 FY2025. (ANI)
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Business Standard
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Vardhman Textiles, Indo Count, Welspun Living rally up to 9%; here's why
Textile companies share price performance Shares of textile companies were in focus and rallied up to 9 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade after the finance ministry on Monday removed the 11 per cent duty on raw cotton imports for a period of 42 days till September 30, 2025. Among individual stocks, Vardhman Textiles (₹447.05) and Nahar Spinning (₹225.15) surged 9 per cent each. Kitex Garments, Welspun Living, Indo Rama Synthetics (India), Nitin Spinners, Indo Count Industries, Siyaram Silk Mills and Gokaldas Exports were up in the range of 3 per cent - 8 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was up 0.14 per cent at 81,397 at 09:37 AM. However, in the past one month, textile stocks have underperformed the market by falling up to 21 per cent after the US President Donald Trump announced up to 25 per cent tariff on imports from India, and an additional 25 per cent if India continued with its energy and defence ties with Russia. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 1 per cent in the past one month. Track Stock Market LIVE Updates Why are textile stocks in focus today? The government has scrapped import duty as well the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on cotton effective from August 19, 2025 till September 30, 2025 to mitigate from pressure of a large tariff of 50 per cent imposed by the US government on Indian exports. Custom duty on imports of cotton currently stands at 11 per cent. The exemption will benefit the textile chain - yarn, fabric, garments and made-ups - and provide relief to the textile industry and consumers. The removal of import duty on cotton was a long-pending demand of industry bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI). This move is crucial in making the industry competitive, as it requires high-quality, contamination-free cotton to meet global quality compliance standards for exports. Removal of duty on raw cotton is expected to have a salutary effect on cotton prices in India, Business Standard reported. ICICI Securities believe this is the right move taken by the government to safeguard the interest of the textile industry. There is a possibility that it will be extended till the government signs an appropriate deal with the US in the near future. However, according to Gokaldas Exports, the recently revised reciprocal tariffs imposed by the US on India is expected to pose a challenge in the second half of this financial year as most of the company's order bookings for the second quarter are already closed. Brands are cautious and want to know the tariff impact on various geographies for committing their orders. India has a large export business of $16 million per annum. It's impossible for any brand to find alternative solutions for this volume elsewhere in the short run, the garments & apparels company said in its Q1FY26 earnings conference call on August 13. A clarity on the tariff imposed on India over the next few months will allow this churn to settle. In the meanwhile, a higher tariff from August across all regions would impact business volumes in the short run. As most of the countries which export apparel, barring China and India, tariffs are at about 20 per cent. So that would have a potential inflationary impact in the market and could impact business volumes going forward, Gokaldas Exports said.
