"Beyond December, it is not likely that the quota will exist since it were the governments of the developed countries which are members of WTO and not their industries," he told the Confederation of Indian Industry here on Wednesday.

India and other developing countries want the introduction of the quota-free textile regime to stick to the deadline of January 1 next year.

Rana said many multinational companies stand to benefit from quota-free regime and several international retail chains including the Wal-Mart and JC Penney have indicated that they would outsource more apparels from India once the quota restriction ends.

A recent meeting of developing countries of International Textiles and Clothing Bureau (ITCB) here heard a call for formulating a policy to survive in non-quota regime and to fight non-tariff barriers set up by developed countries like rules of origin, transshipment norms and ever-new procedural and performance requirements especially under pressure from NGOs in areas of labour and environmental concerns.

ITCB is a forum of countries manufacturing and exporting textiles and clothing like Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, South Korea, the Philippines, Uruguay and Peru. Many members of the forum however compete against each other in the market.

ITCB Chairman and India's representative at WTO, K M Chandrasekhar, said developing countries would have to fight for further liberalisation of textile trade at the next meeting of WTO.

Indian Commerce Secretary Dipak Chatterjee said there was once a perception that quotas support growth and protect the interests of developing countries but a quota-free textile trade was in their long-term interest.

The global textile trade is worth 350 billion dollars and is expected to grow further after the end of quota regime.

In India, textile export contributes 24 percent of the country's total exports and textile sector contributes eight percent to the central excise revenue.

Meanwhile, India has won a case against European Union at the WTO involving special tariff concessions on textiles given to Pakistan on the ground that it is a beneficiary of a scheme for countries involved in combating drug production and trafficking.

The verdict of WTO will come as a relief to Indian exporters to European Community who were feeling at being at a disadvantage due to special concessions granted to Pakistan, Indian officials say.