The companies are worried because the increasing imports of readymade garments are hurting them in the local market even as they grapple with tepid growth in exports.
Concerned about increasing imports from Bangladesh, garment makers from the industrial clusters of Coimbatore and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu have approached the central government, seeking its assistance in getting supply contracts from Indian retailers and brands.
The Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF), an association of more than 560 textile establishments with a combined turnover of over Rs 40,000 crore, wrote to textile minister Smriti Irani in early June, seeking her ministry’s intervention. The companies are worried because the increasing imports of readymade garments are hurting them in the local market even as they grapple with tepid growth in exports. “Indian clusters can better serve the sourcing needs of both Western and Indian brands than products sourced from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Indonesia,” the federation said in the letter.
According to data collated by ITF, textile imports from Bangladesh jumped 53% in fiscal year 2018-19 to $1.07 billion (Rs 7,500 crore). Local entrepreneurs fear neighbours like Bangladesh will edge them out in the Indian market due to the advantages they enjoy such as lower manufacturing costs and free-trade agreements (FTAs) that create a duty-free expressway for their products into this country. The challenge from Bangladesh is also affecting India’s prospects in the international market.
