Coimbatore : Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) on Saturday appealed to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to announce immediately the revised all-industry rate of duty drawback for garment sector by increasing it from 2 per cent to 4.5.

The drawback usually announced in September/ October had not been announced so far and the Government was delaying the announcement since the Rupee had depreciated, TEA president Raja M Shanmugha said in a statement here.

After softening of crude oil prices, the Rupee was now in the declining trend against the dollar, from peak value of Rs 74.35 per on October 10 to Rs 69.60 yesterday, he said.

He hoped the trend would continue in the coming days too and said the benefit of Rupee depreciation was short-lived and already knitwear exporters were feeling the pinch.

In the half year of this fiscal, the total knitwear exports recorded Rs 26,056 crore against Rs 29,210 crore last year, a decline of 10.8 per cent, he said.

Knitwear exports from Tirupur during the period showed a decline from Rs 13,600 crore to Rs 12,100 crore, a negative growth of 11 per cent.