Bharat Gandhi, a veteran of the textile industry, has been reappointed as the chairman of the Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI) at the 45th Annual General Meeting held in Surat. The AGM had the participation of about 136 members of FIASWI from across the country, who joined both online and offline. Mihir Mehta has been appointed as the president of FIASWI, and Smita Yevle as the vice-chairman.
In his address to the annual general meeting, Gandhi highlighted that FIASWI, along with the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) and other associations, has made several presentations at the central and state level, and some submissions are yet to be resolved for the textile sector. He further mentioned that FIASWI proposed the reduction of customs duty on mulberry raw silk yarn to 10 percent, fixing the floor price on the weight of imported fabrics under HSN code 5007, imposition of fixed custom duty of at least Rs 100 per kg on the import of knitted fabrics covered in Chapter 60, and the extension of customs duty exemption on modern weaving machines until March 31, 2023, for five more years.
Gandhi also requested the reduction of customs duty on the import of synthetic yarn, removal of non-tariff barriers on the import of finished fabric, especially on fabric imported from Vietnam, and a new incentive scheme TTDS for machinery modernization in the textile sector, which was not announced or included in the budget.
