New Delhi 4th July 2023: AEPC supported the Brand and Sourcing Leaders Association (BSL) for their Glocal Manoeuvre Series Power Play 2 programme conducted at Apparel House, Gurugram. The award was to recognize those apparel companies which had made significant strides in the area of sustainability. Shri Sudhir Sekhri, Vice Chairman AEPC was the chief guest, Shri HKL Magu, Past Chairman and EC member AEPC, brands, participating companies, thought leaders and domain experts of the industry, etc. were present during the event. The event took place at Apparel House, Gurugram on 30th June and 1st July 2023.
The award was given both in MSME and Non- MSMEs categories, including four major segment which included: Swachh Green Udyog, 3 R’s (Reduce, Re-Use & Recycle), Naari Shakti-“Empowerment of Women”/Gender Equality and Exemplar Social Impact & Community Engagement. The Swachh Green Udyog went to Texport Industries Pvt Ltd., The 3 R’s (Reduce, Re-Use & Recycle) was given to Pratibha Syntex Ltd., Exemplar Social Impact & Community Engagement award was accorded to Aquarelle India Private Limited.
The BSL and AEPC had conducted a Sustainability Marathon from 5th May to 27th May 2023 across all prominent garment clusters of the country including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Jaipur, Tirupur and Bangalore. This award function is the culmination of the sustainability marathon.
Other prominent awardee companies/ bodies included the platinum excellence award was given to Shahi Exports Pvt Ltd., Queen of green was bagged by Welspun, Golden blue digitization award went to Ace Turtle. Two associations; Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) and Garment Exporters Association of Rajasthan (GEAR) were awarded for Exemplary Association for Achievement in Good Earth and Exemplary Association for Achievement in Social Sustainability, respectively.
The event was attended by prominent industry leaders across the textile value chain, which included manufacturers and exporters including Dr. A. Sakthivel, Ms. Laila Tyab along with the senior representatives of iconic domestic and international garment brands including Adidas, ABFRL, Swatantra, Norlanka, Mothercare, Triburg, Aiglocal, beri, PVH, Alliders, Sourcenet, Zivame, PGS, Ginemode, Advis etc. participated in the award show.
Speaking at the occasion Shri Sudhir Sekhri, Vice Chairman AEPC said, “The global garment brands are geared up to the cause of sustainability across ESG (environment, social and governance). The European Green Deal is focused on making Europe a net zero emitter of greenhouse gases and becoming a climate neutral block by 2050. As part of the Green Deal, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) was issued in Jan 2023. The new directive strengthens the rules relating to the social and environmental information that companies have to report and takes effect in 2026, with reporting starting in FY 2024.” This will force importers of garments to ensure that their overseas suppliers like us, conform to the sustainability standards under the Green deal. Suppliers therefore will either have to conform or perish, he added.
In light of the fact that sustainability across the textile value chain is gearing up as one of the most prior parameters across global buyers.
Further Vice Chairman AEPC said, “I am pleased to see the enthusiastic participation by the garment fraternity, across all the clusters, in adopting these sustainable measures. It is very encouraging to know that this enthusiasm cuts across Micro, Small, Medium to large segments of garment manufacturers.” AEPC’s trade delegations have been batting for sustainability initiatives to our global buyers in traditional as well as emerging markets, he added.
Shri Sekhri in his comment said, “AEPC intends to document these stories and use them as a selling pitch to global buyers and brands which support of BSL”.
AEPC had launched Apparel Industry Sustainability Action (AISA) in Nov 2022 with an aim to encourage wider penetration of these measures amongst MSMEs, which is seen bearing fruits with active participation of the industry and brands in unison.
