Turmoil in Bangladesh an opportunity to boost exports and create jobs, Congress tells Finance Minister

The political turmoil in Bangladesh offers India an opportunity to boost its garment exports and create crores of jobs, the All India Professional Congress (AIPC) has said in a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

In the letter, dated November 12, AIPC chairperson Praveen Chakravarty said it was offering two concrete suggestions after holding extensive discussions with 120 textile and apparel manufacturers in Coimbatore.

Also read | India, Bangladesh consider making some land ports operational 24/7 Former Finance Minister P.

Chidambaram, eminent economist Rathin Roy and Mr.

Chakravarty were part of these discussions that took place on October 2.

‘Cut import tariff’ Suggesting policy changes for Budget 2025, Mr.

Chakravarty wrote that the top five apparel importing countries such as the U.

S.

, Germany, Japan, France and Britain bought 70% synthetic garments and 30% natural fabric apparel.

“But India exports more natural fabrics and less synthetic garments.

This is because of a skewed import tariff structure on synthetic fabrics of 20%, which is hurting India’s apparel exports tremendously,” the AIPC chairperson said, adding, “It is recommended that the import tariff on synthetic fabrics be reduced significantly”.

Collateral-free credit The second suggestion was with regard to formulating a special collateral-free credit scheme linked to exports for textile and apparel makers that would be impactful in scaling garment exports significantly and quickly.

Mr.

Chakravarty quoted NITI Aayog’s estimates about how every $1 billion of garment exports created 1.

25 lakh direct and five lakh indirect jobs.

“Most importantly, 70% of these jobs are for women.

In this context, it is a matter of grave concern that India’s share of the global garments market has remained stagnant over the last decade while Bangladesh and Vietnam have doubled their share,” he said.

“Now, with Bangladesh in political turmoil [after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government], it is perhaps an opportunity for India to seize the opportunity to boost garment exports and create crores of jobs,” the AIPC chief added.

The Congress functionary also said the free trade agreements with the European Union, the United Kingdom and the U.

S.

would help India compete with Bangladesh, as the latter received preferential duty treatment from these nations as a Least Developed Country (LDC).

“There is a unique opportunity for India to double apparel exports from the current $15bn to $30bn, same as Vietnam.

This can help create one crore new direct jobs, mainly for women,” Mr.

Chakravarty stated, adding that “the letter is written purely in the larger national interest, keeping politics aside”.

.