News Excerpt
Government of India had decided to abolish the anti-dumping duty on imports of a PTA chemical. The reason cited for this step was larger public interest.

Pre-Connect
●    PTA is a raw material used in polyester fabrics, around 70 to 80% of fabric and its component (such as staple fiber, spun yarn, sportswear, dresses, car seat etc.) production is based on it.
●    Earlier, domestic PTA industry has complained about the cheap PTA (lower than manufactured in India) made available in the Indian markets due to foreign exports.
●    To counter this dumping of PTA into the Indian market government imposed anti-dumping duty.
●    However, the decision caused several negative impacts such as:
o    It reduced the competitiveness of the textile industry in India as the decision raised the production cost for polyester fabrics, thereby making them less attractive for their domestic and international buyers.
o    There was a surge in the import of polyester fabrics products while the exports declined.
o    There was also shortage of the raw material due to lesser capacity of domestic manufactures and shutdown of factories for maintenance.

Impact of decision
⮚    It would allow for sourcing of raw material at affordable rates for domestic manufacturers from international markets.
⮚    It would allow the textile industry to unlock its immense potential and generate employment.