The leaders of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) have alleged that Indian textile mills are dumping yarn and fabrics in the Bangladesh market to destroy the domestic textile industries.
They said that the Indian government is conspiring to destroy the textile sector in Bangladesh, under the guise of various types of subsidies and assistance to Indian factories.
BTMA President Shawkat Aziz Russell made this allegation at a special press conference organized at the Crystal Palace of the Gulshan Club in the capital on Monday.
Indian mills have emerged as a threat to the Bangladeshi industry through smuggling routes and land ports by selling yarn and fabrics at prices lower than the cost of production.
“If this continues, our textile sector will also fall victim to the consequences of ruined jute mills,” he alleged.
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The BTMA President said, “We have already appealed to the government to stop importing yarn through land ports and impose anti-dumping duty on Indian yarn.”
“They have taken our jute industry and now they have started dragging it with textiles and ready-made garments.”
He said the government cannot take decisions as quickly as other countries can. "My government hesitates until after the industry is destroyed," he added.
Russel requested that imports through land ports be stopped until the capacity of our land ports is built to prevent false declarations of yarn.
He demanded that this interim government take the initiative in investigating the dumping of Indian mills.
“Despite increasing the export of ready-made garments, on the other hand, imports are increasing through false declarations through land port, and our yarn is not being sold," he complained.
“During the previous BNP government, yarn imports through land ports were stopped, but when the Awami League government came to power, it was resumed and we complained and stopped it and demanded that yarn and fabrics be imported through sea ports only,” said president of BTMA.
The BTMA president said that local mills have stored yarn worth taka 8-10 thousand crore as India is exporting yarn to Bangladesh at a lower price than the Indian market.
BTMA vice-president Saleudh Zaman Khan Jitu alleged that India is state-sponsoring dumping by offering a subsidy of Rs 11 per kg of yarn.
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He said that Bangladesh's ready-made garment factories are not getting the benefit of buying yarn at a lower price, which is going to the buyer at the end of the day.
Md. Saleudh Zaman Khan (Jitu) said that due to the gas crisis, the domestic mills can produce at only 50-60 percent of capacity.
He demanded that the increased gas price be reduced to below Tk20 by reversing the weight and average cost of gas.
Engineer Rajib Haider Munna raised questions that in whose interest is LNG import being encouraged by storing gas underground?
He mentioned that the textile and ready-made garment industry cannot survive by importing LNG.
Threatening to surrender the factory keys at the BERC hearing, he said that it would not be possible to run the factory for Tk70, so they would surrender the factory keys on the day of the hearing.
To encourage investment, BTMA Vice President Md. Abul Kalam demanded that bank interest rates be brought down to single digits and fixed for the next 3 years to survive the industries.