INDIAN GARMENT INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE IN 2017 - 2018 General Overview
India is among the world's largest producers of textiles and garments. The Indian domestic textile and apparel industry contributes 2% to India’s GDP and accounts for 14% of industrial production, 27% of the country’s foreign exchange inflows and 13% of country’s export earnings. The textile sector that employs 45 million people in India, is second only to agriculture sector in terms of employment.
Readymade garment sector is the largest contributor to India’s total textile and apparel exports, representing around 41% of country’s textile and apparel exports.
Garment Exports
India reported a 3.83 per cent decline in Ready Made Garment exports to US $ 16.71 billion in the period of April-March 2017-18 as compared to US $ 17.38 billion in the same period of 2016-17.The export figures for apparels for the period April to March 2017-18 have shown a drastic decline of 3.83 per cent. These figures clearly show that apparel exports are not only stagnating but are heading towards recession, according to the Apparel and Export Promotion Council, AEPC. Exports in the textile sector is expected to reach USD 300 bn by 2024.
Negative Figures
The cumulative exports of textile and apparel were also down by 4 per cent as the exports stood at Rs 187,080 crore in April-January 2018 in comparison to Rs 194,047 crore in April-January 2017. The textile industry, is under depression and the main issue is GST.
Indian apparel production is on a declining curve with the industry registering a decline of 10.4 per cent for the period April-January 2017-18. India’s garment exports are witnessing a continuous decline since October 2017.
In April-February 2017-18, India’s clothing exports have registered $15.22 billion (approx.), showing a decrease of 2.19 per cent compared to $15.55 billion (approx.) registered in the same period of previous financial year.
Investment Scenario
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in textile sector more than doubled to USD 618.95 mn during 2017 from USD 230.13 mn, a year ago.
