India' Garment to Achieve The Target of US$ 17 Billion in Exports for The Current Year

The garment industry of India is expected to achieve the target of US$ 17 billion in exports for the current fiscal year as the outbound shipments of apparel have already touched US$ 5 billion during the first four months of 2013-14, according to the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

At the 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the council, Mr. A Sakthivel, chairman of AEPC, said the Government has fixed a target of US$ 17 billion for garment exports, and if the same momentum of growth in exports is continued and major recommendations of AEPC are met by the Government, the target is quite possible to achieve.

Mr. Sakthivel said that the growth in apparel exports is attributed to the recovery of the US economy, which is the country’s second largest export destination, in addition to the increasing demands from emerging markets such as Latin America and Africa, he added.

The AEPC chairman said apparel exports have picked up really fast during the first four months of the current fiscal as compared to the last fiscal.

During April to July 2013-14, apparel exports have increased by 13 percent year-on-year to US$ 5 billion, he added.

Further, the AEPC chairman said that despite the decline in the share of traditional market in India's total apparel exports to world in 2012-13, the share of non-traditional markets during the last fiscal has increased to from 30 percent to 34 percent.

According to AEPC, 66 percent of India’s total exports are destined for countries in the European Union and the US.

During the meeting, the AEPC also conducted a discussion for enhancing the country’s apparel exports, where representatives of the body suggested various proposals, including import of synthetic fabrics at a lower duty of 5 percent during the 12th Five-Year Plan from the existing 21 percent, and a separate proposal for getting export credit at the fixed rate of 7.5 percent as done in the past.