Objectives

The study was undertaken with following objectives:

• To identify the difference between imported fabrics and indigenous fabrics, used by the garment industries.
• To identify means to improve the quality of Indian fabrics so that they can replace imported fabrics.
• Benchmarking the quality of fabrics being used by the garment industry.
  

Details of the survey

The survey covered 100 garment units in Chennai, Tirupur, Bangaluru and Coimbatore. About 18 garment units were covered in Bangaluru, 21 at Chennai, 4 at Coimbatore and 57 at Tirupur. All the top ranking companies, including woven and knitted garment units, were covered in the survey.

The requirement for any particular type of fabric depends on the seasons, for example, fall summer, fall winter, etc. According to importers, India is a better sourcing centre for summer wears. Formal wears always have a demand throughout the year; So the orders are continuous. Whereas for knitwear, the orders are abundant in winter season (i.e., make it readily available for the next summer in European countries and United states).

On an average, 20% of the imports are of woven fabrics, whereas less than 10% of imports are of knitted fabrics.

The chief varieties of woven fabric which are imported from various countries include linens, ready for dyeing fabrics (RFD), poplins, twill, corduroys, cambric, canvas, chief value cotton (Cvq, interlinings, 100% polyester, woollen acrylic blends, special blends, polynosics, polyester/ nylon blends, polyester/viscose, terylene, cotton/nylon.

In the case of knitted fabrics the major imported fabric types are polar fleece, vellour, jacquard, polyamides, 3 thread fleece, all feeder Iycra jersey (100% viscose, 100% cotton, 100% polyamide), cotton/nylon/ spandex, polyester/nylon/spandex, bamboo/tencel linen/polyester blends, etc.

In India, the lead-time for manufacturing the fabric is 30 45 days with a transit time of maximum 5 days. The lead-time for imported fabric is 15 - 20 days of production and the transit time of 15 - 22 days according to the vessel booked. Even though transit consumes a lot of time for imported fabrics, importers feel that the overall timing is same as that of locally procured fabrics, -with an advantage of superior quality at lower costs.

The major fabric imports are from People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Italy, and Pakistan. For their requirements, importers depend on different countries for different products.

Importers feel that China is the most popular place for procuring fabrics as it produces quality fabrics at flexible prices. Taiwan is their choice for knitted goods like fleece, suede and velour. Though very expensive, they prefer to import poly wool fabrics from Italy considering its high quality. Pakistan, with its strength in cotton products, is importer's destination for procuring denim fabric, while Thailand is preferred for import of smaller lots.

Generally, heavy products like canvas, denims, heavy drills, etc. are not imported, since the fabrics occupy more space and weight, which result in additional transport charges.

Various reasons for import of fabrics

The various reasons attributed by the garment units for importing fabrics was compiled, which are listed below:

• Comparatively lower cost of imported fabrics.
• High fluctuations in the cost of fabrics due to constantly fluctuating yarn prices.
• Outdated dyeing techniques adopted by the decentralised wet processing units resulting in improper dyeing.
• Inconsistency in quality, erratic delivery schedules maintained, poor customer service offered and