With cheap imports of non-woven fabrics flooding the country, India has started India has started a probe into dumping of such fabric from five countries including China, Malaysia and Indonesia to protect the domestic industry.

The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) says it has found "sufficient prima facie evidence" of dumping of the products from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and China.

Global Nonwovens Ltd had filed an application before the DGAD to initiate an investigation into the dumping issue.

"The authority hereby initiates an investigation into the alleged dumping and consequent injury to the domestic industry ...to determine the existence, degree and effect of alleged dumping and to recommend the amount of anti-dumping duty, which if levied, would be adequate to remove the injury to the domestic industry," the DGAD said in a notification.

The period of investigation covers July 2015 to March 2016.

Countries start anti-dumping probe to determine whether their domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in below-cost imports. As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of WTO.

The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers vis-a-vis foreign producers and exporters.

India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products to tackle cheap imports from some countries, including China. (SH)