The Moves That Mattered

The apparel industry has made much headway of late. Meera Warrier writes about some of the important developments that took place in the industry in the last few months.

- Meera Warrier

Over the course of a few months, the Union Government has taken several steps towards the strengthening of the apparel and textile sector of the country. This is through a series of initiatives that have been announced by Hon’ble Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani on various platforms.

In a recent announcement, she spoke about the central government’s many key reforms such as the relaxation of sections of the Income Tax Act and incentives to boost the domestic market for apparel, enabling it to compete with many multinational brands.

“To encourage the domestic apparel sector to compete with multinational brands, Government announced key reforms under a Special Package that includes additional incentives under the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund (ATUFS), relaxation of Section 80JJAA of Income Tax Act and introduction of fixed-term employment for the apparel sector. Under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY), the Government is providing the entire 12% of employer’s contribution towards Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) and Employee’s Pension Scheme (EPS). Further, to make the apparel sector competitive, the Government is providing a rebate of State and Central taxes/levies embedded in manufacturing,” a release by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), which is said to have been given by Smriti Irani, read.

The release also reiterated that the Government is paying the whole 12 per cent of the employer’s contribution towards the employee’s provident fund and pension schemes. "Under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY), the Government is providing entire 12 per cent of the employer’s contribution towards Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) and Employee’s Pension Scheme (EPS). Further, to make the apparel sector competitive, the Government is providing a rebate of State and Central taxes/levies embedded in manufacturing,” it read further.