The government has imposed minimum import price (MIP) on eight knitted fabric items and extended it for five variants of synthetic knitted fabric till December 31 this year to check inflow of cheap imports.

“MIP on synthetic knitted fabrics ($3.5 per kg) is extended from September 15 2024 to December 31 2024. Further, MIP of $3.5 per kg on CIF value has also been imposed on 8 new ITC (HS) codes of various kinds of knitted fabrics for the period up to December 31 2024,” per a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Tuesday.

When an item is subject to MIP, its import is prohibited if it is priced below the prescribed amount. Its imposition ensures that the domestic market is not flooded with cheap imports which hurt local producers.

The textile industry is hopeful that the decision will address the “pressing issue” of underpriced imported knitted fabrics.

Textile manufacturing body NITMA cautioned that “unscrupulous entities”  may try to switch their imports to other HS codes to bypass the MIP. It said that the industry should remain vigilant and closely monitor imports.