Beleaguered Textile Industry Uncertain Times Ahead

The Vibrant Indian Textile Industry, A Major Foreign Exchange Earner And One Of Tl Employers In The Country, Is Now Confronted With The Bleak Prospects Of Massive. Following Rising Cotton Prices, Robbing The Indian Garment Export Of Its Competitive<br><br>

"The High Prices Of Cotton Have Pushed The Cost Of <a href="http://fabrics.fibre2fashion.com">Fabric</a> And Its End Product. We Situation Where We Are Forced To Reject The Repeat Orders As We Can't Justify The H Foreign Buyers," Regrets The <a href="http://garment.fibre2fashion.com">Apparel</a> Export Promotion Council (APEC). As It Is, Over The Last Six Months The Price Of Good Quality Cotton Has Zoomed Up By Over 50 Per Cent. <br><br>

Against This Backdrop, The APEC Has Urged The Central Government To Curtail Cotton Increasing The Export Duty On Cotton. This Way, The Export Of Finished Products Would Provide The Council A Greater Price Realization And Help Capture A Greater Share Of The International Market. And As Pointed Out By A Leading Textile Industrialist Based In The Dynamic Tirupur, "Domestic Firms Are Suffering Due To Higher Cotton Prices. In Particular, The Spinning Sector Will Be At The Receiving End. If Cotton Rates Do Not Cool Off, It Will Definitely Affect The Profit Margins By 5 Per Cent To 10 Per Cent." <br><br>

On Another Front, The Indian Garment Export Drive Is Losing Ground To Competitors Like Sri Lanka, Vietnam, China And Bangladesh. In Addition To The Ripple Effects Of The Global Recessionary Trend, The Recent Middle East Debt Crisis Has Added To The Woes Of The Country's Textile .Many Of Debt-Ridden Big Indian Garment Manufacturing Firms And Apparel Companies Have Focussing On The Domestic Market, Where The Demand For Innovative And Quality Products Is Fortunately Picking Up. <br><br>

This Apart, The Debt And The Increasing Interest Rates Of Many Of The Big Textile Enterprises Is Casting A Shadow On Their Performance. Servicing Of Debts Has Brought Down The Many Textile Firms By A Significant Extent. "Balance Sheet Pressure Will Continue To Be A Bottleneck For Most Textile Firms And Unless Significant Equity Is Infused, Leverage Will Be A Major Warns An Analyst (Consumer And Retail) At The Indian Research Arm Of Noble Group ,A British Investment Bank. <br><br>

However, Not Withstanding An Improvement In Orders From Overseas Buyers, Man) Textile Outfits And Garment Manufacturers Would Need At Least Two More Quarters These Troubled Times. Most Textile Players Are Now Banking On The Return Of The Demand And Rise In Orders After A Year-Long Lull. This Is So As The Dynamic Apparel Sector Boasts Of Over 27,000 Manufacturers, 48,000 Fabricators And 1,000-Odd Manufacturers-Cum Exporters. <br><br>

Meanwhile, Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran Has Driven Home The Point That There Is An Urgent Need To Attract And Sustain Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) In The Textile Sector If India Is To Achieve The Goals Of Employment Generation And Technology Up-Gradation, Besides Attaining A Four \Per Cent Share In The Global Trade In Textiles And Clothing. "The Indian Textile And Currently Valued At US $40-Billion. Most Of The Global Apparel Retailers Including JC Penny And Dockers And Target Have Their Sourcing Networks In India," He Observes. <br><br>

On His Part, He Has Made A Note That The Indian Textile And Apparel Export, Which $22-Billion, Is Expected To Register A Four-Fold Increase To Touch US $90-100 Billion Over The Next 25 Years. At Least 60 Per Cent Of The Textile Exports Are To The US And European Markets. There Is An Urgent Need To Broaden The Product Mix And Explore New Markets, While Maintaining And Increasing The Share Of Indian Textiles And Clothing In Core Markets Through Product Innovation And Diversification. <br><br>

Meanwhile, Analysts Of The Textile Industry Are Optimistic Of An Increasing Volume Investment Flowing Into The Textile Sector Through The Direct Route. Some Of The Areas Where The FDI Is Expected To Rise Include Apparel Sourcing, Fabric Production And Textile Machinery Manufacturing. <br><br>

Foreign Players Are Interested To Invest In India In Varying Capacities. They Are Interested In Setting Up Greenfield Machinery Units As India Truly Lacks In The Sector. Apparel Sourcing Hubs Are Also One Of The Sectors Which Are Attractive For These Players. <br><br>

As Things Stand Now, Exports Make For Around 40 Per Cent Of The Value Of The Indian Textile Industry. However, With India Losing Ground To The Smaller Countries In Lucrative Markets Of The US And Europe, Over A Million Jobs Have Been Lost In The Sector, Mostly In The Labour- Intensive Garment And Apparel Units. Indeed, As Pointed Out By The APEC, The Indian Garment Products Are Over 20 Per Cent Costlier Than Those Supplied By Competing Nations Such As China, Vietnam And Cambodia. <br><br>

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