Another shock: DGFT says no firm is eligible for PPE export

Ludhiana: Giving a major jolt to PPE suit manufacturers from Ludhiana, the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) on Monday claimed that all the applications received by the department were ineligible and none fulfilled the criteria specified for allocation of export quota for July.
DGFT has also changed the eligibility criteria, as a result the businessmen who had applied for the August quota will now have to re-file applications. The development has caused huge resentment among the businessmen, who say this will further hit the export prospects and they will have to suffer further losses.
Coming down heavily on the government, Harish Dua, executive council member of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), says, “It is unimaginable that not even a single businessman was found eligible to export PPE suits from India. It has been almost a month since the announcement was made by DGFT on June 29 to allow export of PPE suits under quota system. Such tough criteria were announced that it was already clear that majority will not be able to fulfil it. But it is shocking that not a single exporter was found eligible. This clearly indicates that there is something wrong with the system being adopted by DGFT. Under the new system, BIS certificate has been made mandatory and not even a single unit of Ludhiana that is into PPE manufacturing has it at this moment. All these factors indicate that the government is not interested in allowing PPE manufacturers to export and wants them to keep lakhs of unsold suits with themselves and bear the losses.”
Narinder Mittal, general secretary of Ludhiana Business Forums, says, “This is a setback to the PPE manufacturers who were pinning hopes on export after being unable to sell huge stocks. DGFT must allow export without restrictions. By delaying exports, the government is giving a chance to countries like China to benefit by dumping their products in other markets without competition from India, which is offering suits at relatively lower rates.”
Harish Kairpal, finance secretary of Knitwear Club who got late in applying for the July quota and filed for August after meeting all conditions, says, “Now as the procedure has been changed, we will have to re-file our application. However, I don’t think we will be eligible under the new procedure that makes submission of BIS certificate a must. Getting the certificate is very difficult and time consuming. If someone does not have it, he must submit a certificate from any accredited body of the importing country, which too is almost impossible. So it is clear that we are ineligible and must give up.”