Textile mills' body for stemming rising rupee

Coimbatore: The strengthening of rupee against dollar is proving detrimental to the country's low import-intensive and price-sensitive textile industry and any further value appreciation of rupee would blunt the industry competitiveness, said the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA).

Calling upon the Centre to initiate urgent measures to stem the rupee's rising value, the SIMA Chairman, Mr S.V. Arumugam, said the surge in recent weeks has affected textile and clothing exports.

In a communication, he said rupee has surged by six per cent between April 2006 and April 2007. Though the Chinese yuan rose 7.24 per cent during the period, the country has built-in advantages that have resulted in China's textiles and garments shipments too rising significantly.

In contrast, the value of currencies of India's other competitors in textiles namely Pakistan and Indonesia depreciated by 1.33 per cent and 0.36 per cent. Whereas Bangladesh's taka could register a rise of only 1.95 per cent during the period.