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While India is one of the top apparel exporters to western markets for summer wear, every year when it comes to winter wear, the country witnesses a dip in shipments. To bridge the gap, apparel exporters are now making an effort to increase the import of specialised fabrics.
Companies and experts alike attribute the dip in winter wear export to lack of availability in specialised fabrics and low value addition in apparel.
“We have a very narrow fabric base and this comes in the way of producing value added apparel. Winter wear is a bigger business worldwide, which India is not able to tap optically. We have now begun developing specialised fabrics and working with polyester and blended fabrics to increase our production of globally acceptable winter wear,” says Premal Udani, chairman of Kaytee Corporation.
“Most of the winter wear globally comprise non-cotton fabric, where India still lags, since it predominantly exports cotton-based fabric and apparel,” says Sanjay Jain, managing director, TT Ltd, and vice-chairman of the North India Textiles Research Association. “There is a dire need to improve our winter wear export, so that capacities are utilised through the year.”
About 70 per cent of Kaytee Corp’s Rs 80 crore of apparel exports is summer wear. “We desire to bring this ratio up to 60:40, if not 50:50, in the near future,” adds Jain.
The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) says the period between May and October is when the industry receives orders for winter wear. While average monthly apparel export during the period of summer wear tends to be $1-1.2 billion, the May-October period sees a dip in average monthly export to $700-800 million.
“There is potential for at least another $200-300 mn worth of apparel export if winter wear production and export are pushed,” says a senior AEPC official. “Since the country doesn’t manufacture the required speciality fabrics meant for producing winter wear, most of it has to be imported. AEPC has been pushing for a duty cut in the import.”
For 2013-14, AEPC has set a target of $17 bn worth of apparel export. The figure from April to December 2013, the first nine months of the financial year, is $10.5 bn.
