Indian Carpet exports to US to rise to $ 180 million: CEPC.

India's carpet exports to US are expected to increase to USD 180 million this fiscal in view of the American government's move to remove the industry from its mandatory child labour certification list, an Indian export association has said.

"We are expecting exports to US to grow to USD 180 million this fiscal, up from about USD 140 million in 2009-10," Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) Chairman O P Garg said.

"Due to the child labour issue and the global economic slowdown, the carpet export industry did not grow but now we will regenerate our status," he said.

The industry is also likely to benefit from the improving economic scenario, it said.

Last week the US government had said that the use of forced child labour had significantly reduced in India's carpet industry before removing it from its mandatory child labour free certification list.

Garg said US was an important market for carpet exports and India's share had dwindled over the past couple of years due to America's stringent child labour laws as well as global recession.

Of the total carpet exports, the US market share fell to 27 per cent in the past two financial years, from 37 per cent in 2007-08, Garg said.

The industry was, thus, not mentioned in the final list prepared by the Department of Labour's Bureau of International Labour Affairs.

The domestic carpet industry employs around 2.5 million artisans and earns foreign exchange of about Rs 2,500 crore.

The US and the EU markets together account for nearly 70 per cent of its carpet exports.

CEPC estimates that the India's carpet exports will grow by 25 per cent to USD 650 million in 2010-11 from USD 525 million in 2009-10.

The industry is also identifying new markets like Turkey, South Africa, Latin America, Japan and Australia for exports.

Carpet exports started declining in October 2008 but turned positive in November 2009, registering a 18 per cent growth.

Source : mydigitalfc.com