SURAT: Powerloom weavers from across the country have raised serious concerns on the Chinese fabric manufacturers dumping huge amount of finished goods in the country with the central government proposing to include textile sector under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (

) scheme.

Powerloom weavers from the major textile hubs across the country including Bhiwandi, Mumbai, Malegaon, Ichhalkaranji, Ahmedabad etc. met at Southern

Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) on Wednesday to discuss and protest the proposed move

They said lakhs of workers would be rendered jobless and small and medium powerloom units will shut down.

Puneet Khimasiya, leader of the Bhiwandi Powerloom Association said, “If textile sector is included under RCEP then China would be the major beneficiary. China has about $50 billion worth of finished fabric stock in the factories. Due to the US-China trade war, Chinese are eagerly looking at dumping their cheap

in India.”

Kiran Pandya, senior executive from

said, “China needs a big market like India to dump its products including textiles.”

President of the Federation of Gujarat Weavers’ Association (FOGWA), Ashok Jirawala said, “The government is already running Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) scheme where certain countries are allowed to sell their products in India. There is no need for RCEP in the textile sector.”

President of SGCCI, Ketan Desai said, “We have started compiling the industry data. A delegation of industry leaders would be going to meet the concerned ministers in the government to oppose the proposed inclusion of textile sector under RCEP”