AEPC urges widening of source for raw materials.

India’s Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) recently advised its member firms to look for more markets for buying intermediates or raw materials to reduce dependence on China due to the COVID-19 outbreak. AEPC chairman A Sakthivel, in a letter to its members, said he has approached the government to direct Indian embassies abroad to identify alternate suppliers.

"We have advised our members to diversify their sourcing base given that the supply chain from China is disrupted," he was quoted as saying by a news agency.

The council has identified top 10 apparel product lines or items each in the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea that are showing significant decline in imports from China, he said.