New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS): India's textile industry has urged the government to remove anti-dumping duty on import of viscose staple fibre (VSF) for the sector to achieve global competitiveness, a statement said on Sunday.

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), along with other industry bodies, has submitted a joint representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard, a CITI statement said.

Noting that the Ministry of Textiles has set a target of $350 billion market size for the growth of the Indian textiles and clothing (T&C) industry by 2025, the CITI said that this cannot be achieved until the country shows progress in exports of textile products, especially in the man-made fibre (MMF) sector.

The industry has been facing stagnation since many years, mainly due to the lack of availability of basic raw materials of MMF/filament yarn at internationally competitive prices, as per the industry body.

"Taking a serious view of the high price of VSF in India, the captains of the various segments of VSF value chain, viz the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), the Bhiwandi Powerloom Weavers Federation Ltd (BPWF), the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), the Federation of Gujarat Weavers' Welfare Association (FGWWA), the Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC), the Indian Spinners Association (ISA), the Ichalkaranji Shuttleless Looms Owners Association (ISLOA), the Powerloom Development Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) and the Tamil Nadu Federation of Powerloom Associations (TNFPA) have submitted a joint representation to the Prime Minister of India for the removal of anti-dumping duty on import of viscose staple fibre (VSF) to achieve global competitiveness," said the statement.

They have also pleaded to the Ministers of Finance, Commerce and Textiles and their respective Secretaries in this regard.

The textile industry players have stated that cotton fibre, which is the basic raw material for the cotton textile industry, and also the growth engine of the Indian T&C industry is available to the industry at an internationally competitive prices. This has helped the entire cotton value chain to remain globally competitive as it doesn't attract any import duty or anti-dumping duty, said CITI.

The VSF Value Chain stakeholders pointed out that India, despite being the second largest producer of MMF in the world, has only 20 per cent share in total T&C exports while China's share of MMF products stands at 80 per cent.

The Indian textile industry is not in a position to fully capture the market opportunities compared to Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc, mainly due to the expensive price of VSF which is the second most important basic raw material for the MMF textile value chain, said the industry body.