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ReturnNew Silk Route--India Planning to source silk from other countries
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PublishDate：
2005-08-02 15:51:00
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NEW DELHI: After the US and the EU, the Indian textile industry is up in arms against China. After a bad experience with Chinese firms, Indian importers are planning to source silk fabric from Brazil and Vietnam.
The industry has approached governments of the two countries, alleging dumping of “substandard” silk fabric from China. Two state-owned Chinese firms, Zhejiang Cathaya and Zhejiang G&F have been accused of supplying 10 lakh meters of “damaged” silk fabric to about a dozen of Indian importers.
“Taking advantage of Indian textile industry’s over-dependence on the Chinese silk for re-exports, Chinese companies are resorting to all kinds of unethical practices. Earlier, it was restricted to fabric counts, but now they have started taking us for granted. They have started sprinkling water in silk fabric before being shipped to India. It increases the weight of the fabric. But, by the time, consignments are opened here in India, the white fabric gets brown patches due to fungus,” Silk Importers & Exporters Association of India president P Jacob Samuel said.
The domestic silk industry is shying away from launching a campaign against the fraudulent Chinese practices, the reason is India’s over-dependence on Chinese silk. “Best quality silk in bulk is produced in China. The fate of 3,000 Indian exporters depends on the Chinese raw material. Hence, those duped by the Chinese firms are unable to take up the matter at open forums. Dishonouring contracts is one of their (Chinese) common practices. No effective legal action can be taken against them. Instead we are planning to develop Brazil and Vietnam as alternatives,” he said.
Out of 12 Indian companies, only New Delhi-based RJ Exports has decided to take legal action against the two Chinese companies. “With one we had a business relationship of about 10 years. They are just not bothered to listen to us. We have initiated legal action against them,” RJ Exports director Ashish Aggarwal said.
India, which is the second largest exporter of silk apparel and made-up, relies solely on China for raw materials. Even
besides exports, India is one of the largest consumers of Chinese silk.
