Boom in textiles & apparel

01 Feb '07

2 min read

The apparel industry in India is estimated to have invested about Rs 2,000 crore with textile business, including spinning, weaving and processing investing almost Rs 8,000 crore, during past two years.

Investment figure in apparel industry is a record, observes Rajendra Hinduja, Executive Director in Gokaldas Exports, one of India's biggest garment exporters.

Some opine that lifting of international quota regime in textiles/apparel is the reason for huge investment in apparel industry, which is true to some extent.

The other reason is the growth of machine tools industry by 40 percent in the first half of this fiscal, according to C P Rangachar, President of the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association (IMTMA).

Enhanced competition in apparel after the end of quota regime has brought down prices, encouraging leading players to focus on value addition.

"In 1970s, Liz Claiborne paid 18 dollars for a garment. Now, it's down to less than five dollars. But inputs aren't getting cheaper. So we have to add value," says Nitin Mandhana of Indus Fila.

Costs of apparel manufacturing in India today are similar to China but the advantage Chinese companies has that government controls appreciating of yuan, says R Sivaram, Executive Director in textile/garment group, Royal Classic.

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