The 39th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI) was held in Mumbai on the December 14, 2016. Arunchandra N Jariwala has been declared as Chairman, EMERITUS. Bharatbhai T Gandhi, Director, Bell Textiles Pvt Ltd, Surat, was elected as Chairman of FIASWI for 2016-17. Maganbhai Doshi was re-elected as President and Smita A Yeole was re-elected as Vice-Chairman from Maharashtra Region. KPA Palanisamy, President, Salem Handloom & Powerloom Cloth Manufacturers & Exporters Society, Salem, was elected as the Vice-Chairman from the Tamil Nadu Region.
In his speech, Maganbhai Doshi, President spoke about current economic situation in the country and the effects of demonetisation in the powerloom Industry in India and requested the Government to allow the small powerloom units to withdraw up to Rs 5 lakh per fortnight to settle the salary bills of the labour, till such time the cash crunch situation improves in the system. He also spoke about the impending GST and its effect on the decentralised powerloom sector. FIASWI had requested the Ministry of Textiles & Finance not to levy GST on scattered decentralised powerloom sector. He also spoke about the huge imports of cheap fabrics from China and that FIASWI has asked the Government to levy specific import duty of Rs 500 per kg on such imports.