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.
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.
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,Director of BTMA 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.
