In the fiscal 2009-10, carpet exports of India slipped down to US $525 million, recording a drop of around 12 percent against the previous fiscal. This was due to fall in demands from major export markets such as US and Europe.
The country has not received improved amount of export orders for carpets from US and European markets in the last couple of months, informed OP Garg, Chairman of Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC).
This fall in demand has forced Indian carpet exporters to focus on new markets such as Russia, Dubai, China, Brazil, Australia and Kuwait, whilst around 70 percent of India's carpet exports are shipped to the US and Europe.
Garg said that, this fiscal, these exports are expected to increase by 25 percent compared to the 2009-10 fiscal, in view of the improved demand from the above-mentioned new markets. For instance, Russia has recently ordered carpets worth about 10 million from India.
China can prove to be a potential market for Indian hand-made carpets, as the former is now producing only machine-made carpets. Country's carpet exports started witnessing turmoil since October 2008, but regained positive trend soon in the month of November with 18 percent growth. Around 2.5 million people depend on this sector for their livelihood.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk - India