The governor of the state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), NN Vohra has requested the Centre to hike customs duty on raw silk imports to 30 per cent.
“The governor approached the minister of state for textiles, Santosh Kumar Gangwar to raise the customs duty from 15 per cent to 30 per cent,” a statement released by the governor’s office said.
The demand has been made with an objective to help those engaged in production of raw silk in Jammu & Kashmir.
Around 30,000 families, mostly from rural areas are engaged in the production of raw silk, the statement said.
It added that the decrease in the custom duty on imported raw silk in 2011-12 from 30 per cent to 5 per cent created an adverse impact on production of raw silk in the State.
Recognising the serious adverse consequences of this move, subsequently, the Centre last year revised custom duty from 5 per cent to 15 per cent.
“This further needs to be revised to the original 30 per cent to save the raw silk industry in Jammu & Kashmir,” the statement revealed.
The Indian government has invested over Rs 113 crore for the development of silk industry in the State under the Catalytic Development Programme.
“If the raw silk sector cannot be revived, it would result in the non-utilisation of the extensive infrastructure for raw silk production established during the past few years,” it observed.
