In its memorandum submitted to the ministries of Textile and Commerce, the FIASWI said the import of grey fabrics was destroying the indigenous powerloom industry and also cheating the government of duty.

It pointed out that the large quantities of cheap fabrics which are being imported into the country are at the cost of decentralised powerloom units. About 35 per cent of the looms in different parts of the country have already closed down due to low demand and low price of fabrics, it said.

Since the raw material prices in South East Asian countries is lower than the prices prevailing in India, they are in a position to sell their fabrics at a cheaper rate in India. About 41 per cent of the total import of textiles is from Korea, Taiwan and China.

About 35 per cent of the looms in centres like Bhiwandi, Surat, and Salem are idle, and an equal percentage of looms are underutilised. The imported fabric has already conquered a large portion of the indigenous market.

``If adequate measures are not taken and the present trend continues, more and more powerloom units will be forced to close down, until we have to depend only on imported fabrics for our requirements'', the FIASWI cautioned.

The FIASWI, in another memorandum, urged the government not to impose anti-dumping duty on the import of polyester filament yarn, as suggested by some spinners of the yarn, ``as there has not been large-scale import of yarn at cheaper rates.''

Citing the figures fot the last three years, the FIASWI said the quantity of yarn exported was much more than the quantity of yarn imported.

There are more than four lakh powerloom units in the country which provide direct employment to more than 60 lakh weavers. The imposition of anti-dumping duty will give a leverage to 36 polyester spinning units to increase their prices. Therefore, there is no reason why anti-dumping duty should be imposed on import of polyester filament yarn, the memorandum said.