Textile Stocks Surge on India-EU Trade Deal

New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) Textile stocks ended higher on Tuesday on a day when the European Union and India announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA).

Shares of Indo Count Industries Ltd zoomed 6.02 per cent, K P R Mill surged 5.96 per cent, Welspun Living climbed 4.22 per cent, Alok Industries went up 2.50 per cent, Trident Ltd edged higher by 1.85 per cent and Arvind (0.52 per cent) on the BSE.

India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement, described as the "mother of all deals", under which 93 per cent of Indian shipments will enjoy duty-free access to the 27-nation bloc, while import of luxury cars and wines from the EU will become less expensive.


Indian garments and clothing will get zero-duty access to the European Union market as part of the import duty concessions granted by the 27-nation bloc under the free trade pact, providing textiles and apparel exporters much-needed level-playing field against competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam, industry bodies said on Tuesday.

Currently, the European Union is the second biggest market for India's textile and apparel exports, after the United States.

Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel said the "zero-duty access of Indian garments and clothing to the EU market will decisively turn the tables in India's favour enhancing our competitiveness in the European market".

According to Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) Chairman Ashwin Chandran, once operational, the India-EU FTA will level the playing field for local textile and apparel exporters with their peers from Vietnam and Bangladesh, against whom they face a tariff disadvantage in the European Union.