Handloom exports likely to exceed Rs 4000 cr this fiscal

With the end of the textile quota regime, the Handloom Export Promotion Council (HEPC), set up by the ministry of textiles as a nodal agency for promoting handloom exports has targeted to exceed Rs 4,000 crore exports target by the fiscal end, which is 25 per cent higher compared with last fiscal.

"The export potential for the handloom sector is huge. As an environment-friendly industry, it is ideally positioned to create a major impact on the world textile market. I am very confident that the Indian handloom through fabric, design, technological and product improvisation, sustained market penetration along with appropriate product positioning will be able to meet the challenges of post-MFA (multi fibre agreement) regime," Shahkarsinh Vaghela, Union minister of textiles, told Business Standard.

According to HEPC, the value of cotton handloom products export during 2001-02 was Rs 2,064.94 crore, in 2002-03, it was Rs 2,633.27 crore.

In dollar terms, during 2002-03 the export was worth $544.12 million, registering a growth of 25.67 per cent over $432.98 million export in the previous fiscal.

"Our export would be at least 25 per cent higher compared with the last fiscal. With the end of quota regime, demand for handloom textiles has gone up substantially in the US, Canada and Europe.

"So we are planning to appoint marketing consultants having good contacts with textile trade, particularly for household textiles, home furnishing and dress materials among others," said M Sivakkannan, chairman, Handloom Export Promotion Council.

For the first time, cotton handloom exports of fabrics and made-ups have crossed $500 million mark.

Looking at the product categories, export of cotton handloom fabrics has registered a growth of 67.32 per cent, while made-ups has increased by 12.49 per cent.

"The handloom sector is the second largest employment generator in the country after agriculture, giving employment to almost 65 lakh persons. As such, it is an extremely important sector which needs to be nurtured as it is generally rural based. Indian handloom have created their own image in the fashion markets in India and abroad due to their excellent designs and exquisite weaves," said B K Sinha, development commissioner, handloom, ministry of textiles.

The US and the EU continue to be the predominant markets for Indian hand-woven materials and constitute around 70 per cent of the Indian handloom exports. Even countries such as Japan and Australia have shown a steady increase over the years.

"The global challenges with the end of MFA has thrown new challenges to the handloom sector. Tariff reduction, elimination of quotas and free market access had paved the way for acute competition, both in domestic and international markets, in which handloom can survive only if it maintains price, quality and delivery schedule," said Sivakkannan.