Aspire for double digit share, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu tells apparel exporters

Indian apparel exporters should aspire for a double-digit share of the world apparel market, from the current level of 5-6%, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said on Thursday.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Apparel Export Promotion Council’s (AEPC) 24x7x365 virtual exhibition platform, Naidu said he was confident that the efforts, along with textile ministry’s support, would boost apparel exports. “We should soon aspire to reach double-digit share in export of fabrics along with proper encouragement and branding,” he said quoting the popularity of Modi jackets among youngsters.
Naidu said that though India is the leading producer and exporter of cotton, jute, silk and manmade fibre (MMF) yarns, it lacks the competitive edge in fabrics and apparels when compared to Bangladesh and China.“They are the biggest buyers of Indian yarn. They add value to it and sell the fabrics and apparels at a lower cost than India. This is largely because the weaving sector is unorganized and dispersed,” he said.
Small-scale companies need handholding to help them scale up, which will help them improve quality enough to match global competitors, Naidu said and encouraged companies to use their ideas and technology, and combine it with the creativity of women.
Textile industry should upskill workers to get an edge over Bangladesh and Vietnam, which have a cheaper labour force, the vice-president said and urged the industry to look at a diverse portfolio of products to tap new markets. “The private sector, along with the government, should innovate to improve competitiveness even in new areas such as manmade fabrics and technical textiles. The global market for technical textiles is $ 220 billion and India has huge potential to tap this sector. The government has come out with a production-linked incentive scheme for technical textiles. Apparel manufacturers should aim for double digit share in the global market.”
Textiles minister Smriti Irani hoped the new platform would also give space to those who innovate, who belong to small and medium enterprises and startups, as young innovators need a supporting hand.
The virtual platform will allow exporters to display their products in a 360 view. Product catalogues and contact details will be displayed. The platform also allows buyers to have video chats with company representatives.
Considering the travel restrictions due to Covid-19 pandemic, the platform is seen as a better alternative in terms of both economy and convenience.