Looking Ahead With Hope!

Last year has been full of surprises and coping with their aftermath, for the Industry; and now it is time for the Budget. Samir Alam decodes the expectations of the Apparel Industry from the Union Budget 2018.

The last Union Budget of India was all about broad growth across the various sectors of the economy. It was drafted taking into account needs in the aftermath of demonetisation, in addition to the overarching strategic needs for India’s rise as an economic superpower. With a quarter of investments directed towards the funding of the rural, agricultural and allied sectors, it presented an encouraging picture of development, while lowering the individual tax rate for a majority of the consumers. This combination of features generated a generally favourable consensus towards the budget. However, it made no new or significant proposals for the apparel and textile industry in particular.

This wasn’t surprising for many in the industry since the government had already announced the R6000 crore package in 2016. At the time, the Goods and Services Tax implementation was still months away and the optimism over its effectiveness seemed obvious, especially, given the government's strong assertion with regards to its immediacy. Given the seemingly temporary cash crunch in the industry, the roll out of the GST was not predicted as a further inconvenience. However, this prediction proved false. The GST reform came into effect with much fanfare, but also an equally prominent discourse of criticism from consumers and businesses alike. So, as the next year’s budget brings its discussions and planning, we are again mired in speculation. We attempt to set aside wanton speculation and present a level-headed analysis of the current state of the apparel and textile industry, while considering what can be reasonably hoped for, given the track record so far.

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