The government doubled import duty on as many as 328 textile products to 20 percent to provide a boost to the manufacturing of these items in India. A notification to this effect was tabled by Minister of State for Finance P. Radhakrishnan in the Lok Sabha. It said, "increase customs duty on 328 tariff lines of textile products from the existing rate of 10 percent to 20 percent...under Section 159 of the Customs Act, 1962".

The increase in duties would give domestic manufacturers an edge over imported products that are currently cheaper. The sector employs about 10.5 crore people and it will create more jobs after an increase in manufacturing activity from this move.

In the last month, the government had doubled import duty on over 50 textile products including jackets, suits, and carpets, to 20 percent. Through a notification, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Custom (CBIC) had hiked import duties as well as raised the ad-valorem rate of duty for certain items.

In the month of June, imports of textile yarn, fabric, made-up articles grew by 8.58 percent to $168.64 million in June. However, exports of cotton yarn/fabrics/made-ups, handloom products grew by 24 percent to $986.2 million. Man-made yarn/fabrics/made-ups exports grew 8.45 percent to $403.4 million. Exports of all textile readymade garments dipped by 12.3 percent to $13.5 billion.