Silk fabric manufacturers in Varanasi, Bhagalpur, Bangalore, Tamil Nadu and Surat are hit by imports of cheap silk fabrics from Vietnam.
Such imports from Vietnam increased from two lakh square meters in 2016 to five lakh square meters in 2017.

Imports of silk fabrics from Vietnam attract zero per cent duty, making the indigenous silk fabric product in India costly.

Domestic fabric manufacturers have demanded a safeguard duty of ten per cent on the import of silk fabrics from Vietnam. They also want access to the accumulated input tax credit, a reduction in the import duty on textile machinery, a reduction in power tariff, and the withdrawal of the anti-dumping duty on polyester filament yarn and viscose filament yarn.

Chinese factories manufacture silk fabrics in Vietnam and dump them in India at cheaper rates. This has affected the growth of Indian silk weaving and silk exports and created employment problems.

Vietnam and Bangladesh have been included in India’s most favoured nation status with a provision to have free trade of major textile commodities where silk fabrics are also included.

China produces 80 per cent of global silk output while India’s share is 13 per cent. Production in other countries accounts for the remaining seven per cent.