Source: &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2552)%>" target="_blank">Textiles Committee,Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, Mumbai


Denim industry like any other textile and clothing products islargely fragmented. While the westerners were the major producers of denim inyesteryears, now Asian manufacturers are contributing to about 50 percent ofthe world denim capacity. Most of the production in Asia is generated primarilyin China and India. Some of the capacity expansion is taking place in thecountries like Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey. There are severalthousands of companies targeting specific customer segments for increasingtheir market shares. Since the companies are shaping up their productsvis--vis defined consumer segments, they obviously are investing heavily onfit, style and fashion statements. In the demand side, world demand for denimsis projected to reach US $ 65 billion by 20151 from a level of US $ 49 billion in 2004. Further, it is estimatedthat the denim demand in the world will increase by 5-6 percent while thesupply will increase roughly by 8 percent, thereby indicating a buyers market.The Americans top the list of denim jeans users and an average estimate putsthe figure at 450 million pairs a year.


TheIndian market for branded products such as jeans, Bermuda, shirts, jackets andother consumer goods is estimated at no less than 40 million consumers. Indian consumers are typically more loyal to their storesthan to brands. About three-fourths of the survey respondents reported thatthey would revisit the stores where they had previously purchased apparel. Thesurvey also revealed that brand is the second most important factor in purchasedecisions. In South India, consumers are generally more brand loyal thanconsumers from the North. Price, however, is the most important factor for theconsumers in East India. Home/TV shopping or mail orders are not yet popular in India, though consumers are aware of these distribution channels. Indianconsumers like to touch and feel the product before they buy it2.The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)projects that the consuming classes with an annual income of US$980 or more hasincluded 80 percent of population by 2009-10. Added to this, the demographicsof Indian consumers are changing fast and so also their propensity to consume,the knowledge about the fashion trends and product availability has providedadditional impetus for increased consumption levels of the denim jeans. Thejeans use no doubt is more popular among the young masses for its choice as afashion statement and also its sturdiness in use for long time. The fadedjeans, sand washed jeans, acid washed or enzyme washed jeans or cut jeans haveall of them provide a status to the user. The use of jeans by the filmfraternity provides a new dimension to this modern day clothing. The brands ofjeans which are ruling the Indian markets are Newport, Addidas, Crocodile,Diesel, Duke, Flying machine, Intigriti, Killer, Lee Cooper, Levi Strauss,Pepe, Ruf and Tuff, Spyker, Trigger and many more.


In India, the demand for the denim jeans has increased manifold andhas increased by 129 percent in an 11 year period between 1998 to 2008.Therehas been a significant demand surge for jeans from the rural India than theurban India. While the rural demand for jeans was below 29 percent in 1998, hasbeen leveraged to 56.30 percent in 2008. Conversely the urban Indias demand share has been significantly reduced to 43.70 percent in 2008 from a demandshare of over 71 percent in 1998. Though the rural Indias denim consumption issurging ahead, the cities have their share of strength in the consumptionstory. The 15 most important cities, in terms of their population post aconsumption demand of around 12 percent of the total denim jeans consumption in India. However, the demand for jeans of these cities in the last three yearsreveals a decline by 4.3 million pieces. Age, sex and cultural integration ofthe Indian population have a strong bearing on the consumption profile as wellas the extent of consumption.

ReadFull Report


Dr. P Nayak is an expert inMarket Research and International Trade. He has been instrumental in creatingthe trade related capacity building in textile sector in India. An eminent scholar and speaker he has served in various ministries of Government of India andis currently working as the Director in the Textiles Committee, Mumbai in theMinistry of Textiles; a statutory organization of Government of India.