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G. Srinivasan

Official sources citing figures furnished by the Apparel Export Promotion Council told Business Line that exports of readymade garments to quota restricted countries during April-July amounted to 376.6 million pieces valued at $1393 million, r eflecting an increase of 8.66 per cent in terms of volume and 10.58 per cent in terms of value as compared to the corresponding months of 2001.

NEW DELHI, Aug. 8

EXPORTS of readymade garments, accounting for approximately 46 per cent of the country's aggregate textile exports, have done relatively robustly during the first four months of the current fiscal, kindling hope of a turnaround in this crucial segment after a patchy export performance during the last fiscal when readymade garment exports plummeted by 10.44 per cent in dollar terms.

Official sources citing figures furnished by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) told Business Line here that exports of readymade garments to quota restricted countries during April-July amounted to 376.6 million pieces valued at $1393 million, reflecting an increase of 8.66 per cent in terms of volume and 10.58 per cent in terms of value as compared to the corresponding months of 2001.

Exports to the US, the single biggest buyer of Indian readymades, during the period under review amounted to 143 million pieces valued at $692.6 million, logged an increase of 41.32 per cent in terms of volume and 15.66 per cent in terms of value, indicating that the recovery currently underway as forecast by leading international institutions would further contribute to enhanced offtake of Indian apparel in the remainder of the current fiscal, the sources added.

Exports to the European Union during April-July 2002 amounted to 211.2 million pieces valued at $634.8 million pieces which showed a modest decrease of 3.83 per cent in volume terms but a wholesome increase in value terms of 9.73 per cent. However, exports to North American markets and particularly to Canada during the period under review were 22.1 million pieces valued at $65.6 million, a decrease of 13.67 per cent in terms of volume and 20.39 per cent in terms of value.

A matter of modest satisfaction, the sources said, is that the AEPC figures refer only to the quota countries and of late the exporters have been making conscious forays into lucrative non-quota markets too. And, as the months go by, the full picture for the current fiscal would emerge, especially when the non-quota exports would also be factored into the final tally. The sources maintained that the performance of the readymade garment sector during the Ninth Plan (1997-2002) has been on a fluctuating spree with exports notching up an annual export growth of 2.1 per cent in 1996-97, 3.3 per cent in 1997-98, 12.6 per cent in 1998-99, 9.2 per cent in 1999-2000, 16.9 per cent in 2000-01 and a minus 10.44 per cent in 2001-02.

The sources said that as the final year performance was a dismal one, the current fiscal year's export target for the sector has been pegged at $5,700 million and given the initial trends noticeable during the first four months of the current fiscal, the industry is on course. In a serious bid to boost exports of textiles in general and readymade garments in particular, the sources said the Government recently de-reserved the woven segment of readymade garment from the small-scale sector.

The Technology Upgradation Fund, operational since April 1, 1999, has under its umbrella weaving, processing and garment machinery for modernisation. Under the TUFs till end-May 2002, a total of 1,656 applications with a total project cost of Rs 14,373.96 crore were received. Of them, 1,419 applications with the total loan amount of Rs 5,226.59 crore have been sanctioned and Rs 3609.39 crore has been disbursed against 1,136 applications, the sources said.

More recently, the Project Approval Committee under the guidelines of the "Apparel Park for Exports" scheme has accorded in-principle approval to the Andhra Pradesh Government project proposal for setting up an Apparel Park at Visakhapatnam. A series of apparel parks with the active support of the State Governments are in the pipeline, the sources said, for imparting focussed thrust in setting up of apparel manufacturing units of international standards at potential growth centres. Besides, there is another `Textile Centre Infrastructure Development Scheme' for modernising infrastructure at major textile centres of the country.

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