Indian textile and apparel exports to USA have risen by 7 percent

It seems that at least for the Indian Textile and Garment Industry, the central government’s ‘Make In India’ is working quite perfectly. A record surge of the country’s export, to its largest market, the United States, stands testimony to its success.

There has been a sharp improvement with respect to the supply of raw materials, which has largely helped the Indian exports of textiles as well as apparel. The resilient performance by the Indian industry can be attributed to the optimal combination of many a global factors such as steady rise in demand from the American markets, a consistent decline of exports from the Chinese markets, unrest in the labor class of Cambodia, the appreciation of Indonesian currency and a major fire in Bangladesh’s factory.

All this have proven to be a blessing in disguise for the Indian textile exports, creating an unparalleled surge of about 7 percent during the period of January to August 2014. And this, when the Indian currency has been strengthening sharply, ever since September 2013. While the betterment of Indian currency generally results in a competitive loss for exporters but thanks to the other contributing factors, even this could not stop the exports to reach a staggering high of 7 percent as opposed to the annual growth that averaged to a meager 2 percent in the past five years.

Mr. Ajay Sardana, VP Aditya Birla Group also affirmed the same at a recent conference. He suggested that while the major contributing factor remains to be the ceaseless increase in US demand, the increased domestic supply of cotton also helped create a major push. Even Mr.VirenderUppal, the Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council confirmed this when he said that the Indian exporters have attracted buyers and a large number of international brands to source their raw materials from India, thanks to our consistent supplies and improved compliance practices.

Furthermore, as per the US Department of Agriculture’s speculation which has been validated by Cotton Association of India, it has been projected that India will be world’s highest cotton grower in the current year, thus surpassing China for the first time in more than three decades.

In addition to all of the above, another imperative factor is pushing India’s unrivaled growth is the fact that its competitors have been facing some major issues. For instance, the workforce in Cambodia raged right through a textile plant and clashed with the local police, over the demand for a hike in pay. The said plant supplies materials to the major sportswear company of USA, the Nike Inc.  Moreover, the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh saw a complete collapse following a major fire, subsequently diverting the orders to the Indian markets pertaining to safety concerns. Even Vietnam’s textile manufacturers have received a major blow attributing to the high credit cost.

While, things look particularly optimistic for the Indian exports at least in the context of textiles and garments over which India already has an upper hand over other economies, this move will further help the nation in strengthening the same with respect to handicrafts as well. However, it is only up to the test of time that will bring forth a clearer picture.