New Delhi: At a time when social media is abuzz with calls for boycott of Chinese products, the Karnataka government recently approached the Union Government to ban the import of silk from China.
Karnataka, one of the major players in the sericulture industry, has come out with this demand after the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) of India.
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kerala are the major silk product manufacturers in the country. Among these, Karnataka accounts for more than 70 per cent of mulberry silk production. However, the sericulture industry is not in good shape due to the intrusion of Chinese silk materials.
At a recent meeting of sericulture industry representatives with the Karnataka Horticulture and Sericulture Ministry, the association demanded that the government ban Chinese imports.
According to Karnataka Horticulture and Sericulture Minister Narayana Gowda, the BJP ruled state government had already flagged this issue to the Centre through a letter.
"We have sent a letter to the Chief Minister and to the Government of India to stop the import of silk from China," the minister told the media.
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"The Chinese are exporting poor quality silk to India. It is merely an act of dumping poor quality silk into India. So, banning of Chinese silk and hiking of anti-dumping duties can only help Karnataka sericulture farmers," said a representative from the Karnataka Silk Reelers Association.
In March this year, KVIC chairman VK Saxena had written to Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goel to stop importing Chinese silk, citing that it affects domestic players.
Notably, Chinese imports were worth Rs 1,497 crore in 2018-2019, compared to Rs 1,389 crore in 2015-2016. However, the numbers are depleting in terms of India's exports. In 2015-2016, India exported silk worth Rs 2,495 crore and the figure came down to just Rs 2,031 crore in 2018-2019.
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