New Delhi. : Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman Dr A Sakthivel said that India has abundant supply of manmade fibre (MMF) and yarn but needs MMF fabric at the right price to capture greater share in global apparel trade.
Speaking at a webinar on ‘Increase in Exports of MMF Garments’ hosted by AEPC, Reliance Industries Ltd and Alcis Sports Pvt Ltd on Tuesday, Dr Sakthivel said the global market for MMF garments is $500 billion including $170 billion for sportswear.
“India’s share in global apparel trade is very low. We need to do a lot to match up to the international requirements. We have enough MMF fiber and yarn but we are not having sufficient fabric, especially fabric for sportswear and exports,” Dr Sakthivel said, adding that both capacity and right pricing are must to become globally competitive.
Mr RD Udeshi, President (Polyester Chain), Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), said that Indian exports have remained constant over the last decade with mere 1% CAGR, “not a very healthy sign”. Textile export of $36 billion in 2019 is only 4% of world exports.
“India has a very low value added end product exports and high share of raw material and intermediate product exports. Inadequate downstream processing capacity could be one of the key reasons for lower exports of value added items,” Mr Udeshi said.
Mr Gunjan Sharma, CMO (Polyester Division), Reliance Industries Ltd, said, “There are a lot of opportunities to capture in India. Our per capita consumption of synthetics is just about one-third of the global level and only one-fourth of China.”
Mr Ravish Nanda, Co-founder, Alcis Sports Pvt Ltd, said, “We don’t have requisite R&D centers in India. We use the best of the yarns made by Reliance even then we have problems in the final fabric and we don’t know how to solve these issues. India lacks a lot in processing. We need help from countries like Taiwan and South Korea to help develop our infrastructure both in terms of technology and manpower.”
Mr Sudhir Sekhri, Chairman (Export Promotion), AEPC, said, “India’s problem is in the value chain integration. Reliance has to step in. While Reliance has the capability to do these fabrics, we have to see that the price points are right and the capacities are available. Unless Reliance steps in and takes up the initiative not only for value chain integration but also for setting up R&D centers and cooperating with garment exporters to create awareness and to create right fabric, we are not going to take off.”
