'Open up non-food retail to FDI' – CMAI tells govt

21 Feb '12

8 min read

CMAI proposes a pan-India anthropometric study to be funded by the government based on parameters of sample size determination and data collection, algorithm/software development & data analysis, testing and validation of software output and thereby arrive at a size chart.

4) Development of Centre of Excellence/Product Innovation Centre:
Market expansion and increase in product portfolio is possible through design and product development. At present there is no such facility/service available which exclusively targets Indian market. The need is to identify the latent consumer needs and convert them into a product idea.

CMAI has proposed establishing a 'Centre of Excellence' or 'Product Innovation Centre', which will provide services on design & style intelligence' and product development'. It has urged the government to budget Rs 250 million needed to set up the centres.

5) Creation of Market Intelligence Database:
At present only 25-27 percent of the domestic manufacturing sector is organized. There is no authentic database about the major chunk of unorganised industry, which will feel the biggest impact of any change in government policies.

The apparel body has proposed setting up an institute which will undertake the creation of a holistic database and make it available to all the stakeholders for their benefit. This institute will also provide market intelligence by developing knowledge portal covering market statistics, market information, research publications and journals.

6) Branding efforts for Indian brands:
The textile and garment industry is largely fragmented with many small players operating in their own niches. There is limited awareness across various regions and cities about different nationalities, their traditions and costumes, due to lack of enough marketing initiatives.

To create awareness, CMAI proposes to organise Fashion Utsav, a 3-day festival in the major cities of India to create a buzz, which will include day-long fashion shows, rock concerts, celebrity performances, anchored events and many more.

Fashion Yatra is another large-scale initiative proposed to increase the visibility of local and regional brands. The Yatra can take off in a refurbished train or many trucks / buses which will showcase and sell merchandise of regional, national and international brands thereby increasing fashion awareness in various tier II, III and IV towns and cities.

7) Packing credit for domestic players:
Currently, there is an absence of any credit rating agency for domestic apparel producers, due to which banks and other lenders conduct due diligence at their end, which entails a lot of procedural formalities which makes the fund approval cumbersome for both banks and these manufacturers. As a result of which, these manufacturers resort to other sources though at higher rates.

CMAI has suggested that aproper mechanism in coordination with Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC), banks and the entrepreneurs should be put in place to extend credit rating facility, to enable them to avail loans at lesser rate of interest.

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