The RBI governor's decision to restore the 100 per cent re-finance facility for exports will go a long way in pushing up textile exports to the ambitious target of 20 per cent set by textiles minister Kashiram Rana for the year 1998-99.

The availability of cheap finance has been an overriding concern for textile exporters throughout the last year. The unwillingness of banks to dole out sufficient credit has left the exporters high and dry, industry sources said. The situation has now taken a turn for the better with the restoration of 100 per cent re-finance facility and the funds will not be a major problem this year, says SS Kelkar executive director Bombay Dyeing.

A Mumbai-based exporter also echoed the same view by saying that both exim and credit policies contain lotof measures to provide a fillip to exporters. He cites the example of the facility for the zero import duty for machinery for garments under export promotion announced in the exim policy as a case in point. This particular measure will be of enormous benefit to small-scale garment manufacturers, who are reeling under severe liquidity crunch, say industry watchers. They also want this scheme to be extended to other sectors since garments constitute only a negligible portion of the total textile exports. Though monetary measures will have a positive effect on the prospects of the exports, these alone would be sufficient to bring about the desired effect, feels a section of the industry. The initiative on the part of the textile ministry is conspicuous by its absence for the last many years and the ministry should wake up to the situation, they add.

The decisions of the textile ministry, which is totally cut off from the hard realities, appear to be giving the impression that what industry needs is not just afew promises but certain pragmatic policies capable of removing the bottlenecks.

For instance, the ministry had announced with much fanfare the setting up of a textile modernisation fund amounting to Rs 25,000 crore. The then finance minister P Chidambaram refused to give the green signal by saying that such a big amount for textiles sector sector alone would be a major drain on the exchequer.

The present incumbent Kashiram Rana is very keen on the immediate launch of the fund with the help of financial institutions. Will the FIIs be able to to pump in as big a amount as Rs 25,000 crore? The industry has a definite no to this question and suggests a suitable alternative in the form of short-term funds in the range of Rs 1000 to 2000 crore for each sector in the industry, the funding for which may not be a big problem.

If the new minister does not wake up to the realities of the situation, history will consider him as one who had made many promises but failed to deliver the goods. A proper understandingof the situation plus ability to take bold decisions appears to be the need of the hour.