Tirupur exporters body has said that outbound shipments of knitwear from the region have grown to Rs 20,730 crore in 2014-15 and is expected to reach the target of Rs 36,000 crore by 2016-17.
At the 25th Annual General Meeting of Tirupur Exporters Association, its President A Shaktivel said that input factors were more or less favourable, which helped to clock 15 per cent growth compared with 2013-14 financial year.
At present, all-India market share of Tirupur in knitwear exports is 44.29 per cent and this would go up once the industry starts exporting synthetic-based garments, which have a market throughout the year globally, he said.
Helped by factors including favourable cotton yarn prices, knitwear exports from Tirupur increased to Rs 20,730 crore from Rs 18,000 crore in 2013-14, a growth of 15.52 per cent in Rupee terms and 15.94 per cent in terms of Foreign currency, he pointed out.
The total ready-made garment exports from India had for the first time crossed the Rs 1 Lakh crore-mark in 2014-15 to touch Rs 1.03 lakh crore, (USD 16.82 billion). Of this, knitwear exports was Rs 46,801 Crore, with a share of 45.43 per cent, Shaktivel said.
As there was volatility in the euro in the first quarter of 2015-16, the share of dollar quoted by exporters increased to 58.51 per cent against 55.41 recorded in 2014-15, he said.
The devaluation of the Chinese currency by 4 per cent mainly to boost their exports had a ripple effect on all currencies globally and the rupee had also depreciated to a new two-year low of Rs.66.65 per dollar on August 25, he said.
"The China effect also prompted our main competitor Vietnam to devalue their currency Dong by one per cent," he added.
"We expect that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Canada and Australia will take place before end of 2015 and help increase our exports to these countries."
Sakthivel voiced concern over the delay in entering into an Free Trade Agreement with the EU, a major market for India, saying that in 2014-15, total knitwear exports to EU was Rs 19,774 crore, with the export share of 42.25 per cent."
The association is expecting the announcement of both National Textile Policy and Tamil Nadu Textile policy soon, he said.
