NEW DELHI: No early end to the woes of the textile sector seems to be in sight with garment exports tumbling over 15 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
According to the data released by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), garment exports shrank by 15.4 per cent in the April-June quarter. Exports of clothes were worth $2.41 billion as compared to $2.85 billion in the year-ago period.
The downturn was most pronounced in exports of silk garments. The sector witnessed a 29.31 per cent decline for the quarter to $82 million from $116 million. It was followed by clothes made of manmade fibre, where the decline was 27.2 per cent, to $190 million from $261 million.
Exports of cotton garment slipped by 14.13 per cent to $1.86 billion from $2.17 billion, while those of woolen garments by 7 per cent to $93 million from $110 million. Apparels made from other textiles witnessed a decline of 5.5 per cent to $189 million from $200 million.
Emphasising that the data clearly showed that the erosion was spread across all categories, the council noted that unit value realisations have also contracted. For example, the unit value realisation for garments to the U.S. fell from $3.6 a piece in 2007 to $3.4 in 2008 and to $3.3 now, it said.
The council asked for the inclusion of a special package of measures in the forthcoming foreign trade policy to overcome the situation, which included increase in the rate of the duty-free scrips and extension of the scheme to be co-terminus with the foreign trade policy for 2009-14. It is now available only till September.
Among other things, it wanted apparels be included in the focus product scheme, removal of duty on import of industrial garment machinery, including equipment required for inserting accessories, and import of specialised fibres, yarns and fabrics not produced in India, besides trimmings and embellishments. Further, it wanted restoration of concessional rate of 5 per cent flat customs duty for the import of consumable spares.
A release from the AEPC also noted that India’s share in the $373 billion global clothing industry had fallen over the years from 3.3 per cent in 2007 to 2.8 per cent 2008 and to 2.6 per cent now and that to even retain the present share, India needed to export $18 billion worth of clothes annually, which will require 2.7 million additional manpower and an investment of $30 billion.
In 2008-09, apparel exports from India had levelled off at $10.17 billion, 14 per cent short of the target of $11.62 billion and about four per cent above the exports of $9.68 billion achieved in 2007-08.
Source : The Hindu