‘QCO will hurt Gujarat’s dye makers’

Ahmedabad: Gujarat's micro, small, and medium-scale dyes manufacturers have opposed the Centre's move to implement a quality control order (QCO) for three intermediate chemicals — H-acid, K-acid and vinyl sulphone — widely used for various dyes manufacturing. They say the move will lead to an artificial price increase in the domestic market.
Gujarat Dyestuffs Manufacturers' Association (GDMA) has raised the issue. Its secretary, Nilesh Damani, said, "The QCO is expected to be implemented next month. We did a survey among our members, and the majority are opposing it. QCO will lead to cartelisation and an artificial increase in price, leading to Indian dyestuff manufacturers losing out to the Chinese in the international market. This, in turn, will lead to Chinese dyestuff being imported into India. It is against the principle of ease of doing business."
Once the QCO is implemented, local and foreign manufacturers must adhere to the Indian standard and display the Standard Mark, obtained through a licence from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
GDMA president Dipak Patel said, "In most cases, the quality of imported goods (Chinese) is better than the Indian goods. In some high-quality and high-value dyestuff, it is critical to have only Chinese material. Our industry has a majority of SMEs who will be at the mercy of a few composite manufacturers. This will result in unfair trade practices. The implementation of QCO would be the beginning of the slow death of MSME dyestuff manufacturers."