Tirupur...the knit city

Tirupur cos weave domestic dreams to beat Re surge

2007-11-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

It is not always that the turf at home is greener. But, a surging rupee appears to have done just that for knitwear players in Tirupur. Textile and apparel companies from the region, which flourished on exports for years, are now turning their focus homewards. Bitten hard by the appreciating rupee these companies are drawing up elaborate maps to increase their reach within domestic shores.

Though a complex transition, the high demand of the festive season seems to have made the road somewhat easier. So, while the exporters are still searching for light at the end of the tunnel this Diwali, those who have turned their focus to the domestic market are raking in the moolah. Key factors driving domestic demand are a growing youth population, rising household incomes, increasing consumer spending and rapid growth in organised retailing. There was a time when Tirupur products were not available in plenty in the home market. The scene has changed dramatically with large retail outlets, today, selling Tirupur cotton products. Alongside, apparel makers are driving the retail boom with their own retail ventures. Exporters who had initially visualised retailing to be just an additional line of revenue contributing less than 10% of turnover, are now reaping a windfall buoyed by the increasing domestic demand. Most garment exporters have ventured into the business of domestic retailing as it offers better margins and allows them to stay in direct touch with customers.

M S Vasant, Head — Retail Division of the Rs 225-crore Royal Classic Group, told ET that though his company had planned to set up 20 stores within a year, it ended up setting up 28 stores in 10 months. The company is aiming to open 100 stores across India this fiscal. SP Apparels (SPAL) MD P Sundararajan has earmarked Rs 30-40 crore for its retail roll-out. Adds SPAL chief financial officer Stanley Jothiraj: “It is a volume-driven game and we have to expand fast to keep pace with others”.

A Technopak study says apparel retail has grown from Rs 65,000 crore three years ago to more than Rs 1 lakh crore today. With the sector registering a 15-16% growth per year, it is estimated that the apparel retailing sector will double in the next five years. With a strong growth in home market, branding and retailing have become the order of the day. Some of the leading textile units in the Coimbatore region are now focused on acquiring or building a brand in the domestic market. Most of these units are into exports now and have an integrated production facilities.

SP Apparels (SPAL), a garment exporter here, is on the prowl for acquiring a kidswear brand. The company recently acquired Crocodile and Natalia brands. Industry sources said, Brandot International is finalising a joint venture with the Bannari Amman group to set up an export garmenting facility at Chennai. Sources indicated that Bannari would be launching their own brand in the premium women’s innerwear segment.

source : Economic Times

Textile, apparel sourcing set to rise 12 per cent: CII-E&Y report

2007-10-30T01:10:00.000-07:00

Confederation of Indian Industry-Ernst & Young’s textile and apparel report 2007 has forecast a higher growth trajectory for India’s textile and apparel sector with sourcing from India by global retailers set to increase at a combined annual growth rate of 12 per cent.

The expected sourcing market in 2008, which is anywhere between $22-25 billion, is projected to go up to $35-37 billion by 2011. The trigger for this growth is likely to come from top global retailers who will seek to take advantage of India’s abundant multi-fibre based raw material, well established production bases, design capabilities and knowledge/skilled labour.

The Government’s pro-textile industry initiatives too will give fillip to retail sourcing from India, said the CII-E&Y report ‘India in Global textile econ-system’ released at the ‘CompTex 2007’ textile conference here today. Of the $49-billion textile and apparel industry, the domestic industry accounts for $30 billion and the remaining is accounted by exports.

Most Indian textile companies are expanding capacities across value chain in areas like design, yarn, fabric, garments and retail forays. Globally, the textile and apparel sectors on consolidation are also shifting to Asian countries and this has brought challenges and opportunities for the Indian textile industry, said Mr Ranjan Biswas, Partner and National Leader, Retail and Consumer Practice of Ernst & Young India.

The CII-E&Y report forecast the global textile/apparel trade to grow from the present $450 billion to $700 billion by 2010 and the demand for apparel and woven textiles to grow by 25 per cent to about 35 million tonnes by then, of which 85 per cent would be sourced from Asian countries. The sector wise advantage for India is its strong position as the third largest cotton producer in the world and it accounts for 22 per cent of global spindleage and 61 per cent of global loomage.

Challenges ahead
On the challenges for India’s textile and apparel sector, the report notes it has to face competition from several low cost countries including China, Turkey, Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Low productivity, technology obsolescence, strong rupee leading to smaller orders and low prices are constraints affecting the Indian exporters.

Its share in higher value-added industry such as fabric and apparel works out to only 4 per cent of the global output. Europe still constituted India’s major export market with 22 per cent of its textiles and 43 per cent of apparel exports going to this market (2006-07). The US continued to be the single largest buyer of Indian textiles and apparel at 19 per cent and 32.6 per cent respectively.

Source: IBEF

Rupee impact being studied: DGFT

2007-10-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is carrying out a survey to assess the real impact of rupee appreciation on various industries, a top official has said.

The DGFT, under the commerce ministry, would study the problems being faced by industries and submit its report within a week to the Centre, R S Gujral, Director General, DGFT, said.
Addressing an open session organised by Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA) last evening here, Gujral said that a study conducted last July had revealed that there was a decline in orders in the apparel industry.

There was a decline in seven sectors, including tea and apparel in July, while moderate drop in growth of several other industrial sectors was noticed in August, he said. Though the commerce ministry had two months ago recommended an interest rate cut by four per cent, the finance ministry had announced only two per cent cut, he said.

"In view of further appreciation, we suggested to the Government to cut the interest rate further," he said, adding, "We also seek exemption of service tax for 10 other categories besides the seven already announced."

A Shaktivel, President, TEA demanded that the Government bring down the interest rates to six per cent and exempt exporters from paying sales tax and fringe benefit tax.

source : Business Line

India to emerge as sourcing hub for global retailers

2007-10-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

The Indian textile and apparel industry is poised to emerge as a sourcing hub for global retailers, given the abundant supply of fibre, well established production base and cost competitiveness, a CII-E&Y study has said. The sourcing market is projected to grow to $35-37 billion by 2011 from the current $22-25 billion, the CII - Ernst and Young Textile and Apparel Report said.

Identifying sourcing as a huge opportunity for India, the report said phasing out of the Multi-Fibre Agreement triggered growth in the quantum of sourcing of top global retailers for the country. "India has several advantages in terms of abundant supply of cotton and man-made fiber, well-established production base, cheap and skilled labour and good design capabilities," the report said. Besides, government incentives to exporters and entry of foreign retailers into the domestic market would also boost retail sourcing from India. "These are exciting times for the sector.

Globally, there are clear indications that textiles and apparel production is consolidating with production shifting towards Asian countries," E&Y India Retail and Consumer Practice, Partner and National Leader Ranjan Biswas said. The report further predicts that the Indian textile and apparel market would grow annually at 6.5 per cent, driven by a favourable domestic environment of rising household incomes, increasing consumerism and rapid growth in organised retail.

Exports would also grow annually by 12 per cent with international retailers looking at India as a viable alternative to China for sourcing of apparel.

source : Economic Times

Textile exports may get dedicated hubs

2007-09-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

The government is considering setting up dedicated textile cargo handling facilities at major international airports and sea ports. “We, along with the export promotion councils, have identified international airports and sea-ports where we plan to develop dedicated facilities for handling textiles cargo. We plan to put up such facilities for apparel export and import cargo at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) Mumbai, Mumbai port, Chennai port and the Tuticorin port. International airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore would also have dedicated textile cargo handling facilities,” a government official said.

The proposal follows directions from a group of ministers (GoM) panel, set up to boost textile sector growth. The GoM included agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, finance minister P Chidambaram, textile minister Shankarsinh Vaghela and commerce minister Kamal Nath. GMR group-led consortium, which is modernising the Hyderabad airport, has earmarked 250 acres near the airport to develop as multi-product special economic zone (SEZ). Industry sources said the multi-product SEZ would focus on textile, perishable items such as flower and vegetables and electronics with emphasis on avionics and aviation components. Meanwhile, the textile ministry has also suggested having uniform tariff rate across all the ports and making container weightment facilities inside port before loading mandatory to improve the cargo handling capacities at existing ports.

The move comes in the wake of government’s plan to increase the textile market in the country to $115 billion by 2011-12. It expects to earn $55 billion from export by then. The textile ministry aims at having 7% market share in the global textile and clothing merchandise by 2012. During this period it hopes to create 12 million additional jobs in the textile industry and other allied sectors. Presently, the total size of the textile industry in the country is pegged at $47 billion — $30 billion of domestic and $17 billion of exports. As per an estimate, the industry would require an investment of Rs 1,50,000 crore in the next five years to achieve the set target.

courtesy : Economic Times

T-shirts for the 2008 Euro Soccer World Cup

2007-08-31T05:22:00.001-07:00

Santosh Garments, an apparel manufacturer in the textile town of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, has bagged orders for a million T-shirts for the 2008 Euro Soccer World Cup.
The manufacturer is busy executing the orders for the event to take place in Switzerland and Austria.

Nearly 500,000 T-shirts have already been made, and the company is expecting the rest to be completed by the year end.

Santosh Garments Managing Director C. Udaya Shankar said they have been making soccer T-shirts for the past four years."We make polyester and cotton T-shirts. Nearly, half a million pieces are now in my hand for the order, and I expect another order of half a million T-shirts. I am proud of football matches (and I hope) to continue to receive orders for my company," said Shankar.The logo of the Euro Cup is emblazoned on the front of the T-shirts, with a list of stadia where the finals are to played printed on the back.T-shirts are available in black, white, navy blue, green and red.

Santosh Garments Technical director Vinoth Kumar said their brand has made a name for itself in the international market, specialising in polyester and cotton T-shirts.
"So far, no one in Tirupur has done 100 per cent polyester. We have tried it and succeeded. It became a big advantage for us and the company has been noted in the world and particularly in the Europe market," said Kumar.The product of Santosh Garments has been approved by the Adidas, a German sportswear giant.

Tirupur is a major hub for knitwear industries in India. Exports from Tirupur have registered a figure of over one billion dollars in 2004 from eight million in 1985

courtesy : THE HINDU

5 Lakh rural youth to be trained in apparel sector

2007-08-31T05:17:00.000-07:00

IL&FS Cluster Development Initiative (IL&FS CDI) has embarked on a massive programme to train five lakh unemployed poor youth from rural parts of the country by partnering with technical institutions across the country and funding from the Union Rural Development Ministry, G. Somasundaram, regional manager, South India, IL&FS CDI, has said.

The programme would address shortage of skilled manpower in the apparel industry, Mr. Somasundaram said. The objective of this ambitious programme was to train five lakh youth who were below the poverty line, in the next five years in different categories of shop floor level workers.

IL&FS will provide machinery, technical know-how and training to the trainers under this project. The District Rural Development Agency would identify candidates.
Tirupur-based NIFT-TEA Knitwear Fashion Institute has signed a memorandum of understanding with IL&FS CDI to be the training partners and to establish five centres across Tamil Nadu.

According to M. Madhavan, Registrar of NIFT-TEA Institute, the institute had already established one each at Tirupur and Coimbatore. The three will come up in Chennimalai, Karaikkudi and Sivaganga.

There will be no fee for the one-month course for sewing machine operators. The three-month course has been altered into a one-month course with the help of multi-media equipment.
The productivity-linked training programme would help garment factories to improve productivity, Mr. Madhavan said. Tirupur Exporters’ Association has come forward to absorb as many as one lakh trainees in a year.

A total of 100 youth between the age group of 18 and 35 will be trained every year.

EU industry tops €200 billion

2007-08-20T21:37:00.001-07:00

The EU25's clothing, textiles and manmade fibre industries had a combined turnover of €201.9 billion in 2006, according to Euratex - the European Apparel and Textile Organisation.
Of this figure, textiles accounted for around €114 billion, clothing for €77.8 billion and manmade fibres for a further 10.1 billion.

Investment by the industries amounted to just over €5 billion last year and the number of people employed was over 2.1 million.The EU25's exports were worth €38.7 billion while imports were worth €81.1 billion.

Leading importers of textiles to the EU25 were China (21.9%), Turkey (15.1%) and India (10.4%), while the leading export destinations for EU textiles were the US (12.3%), Romania (10%) and Turkey (7.3%).China was also the leading importer of clothing to Europe (31.4%) followed by Turket (14.9%) and Romania (6.7%). Leading EU-produced clothing destinations were Switzerland (17.1%), the USA (13.7%) and Russia (11.3%).

Hohenstein to celebrate opening of new office in Tirupur

2007-08-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hohenstein India Pvt Ltd has organized a get together on the occasion of opening of new branch office in Tirupur.This event will be held on August 28 at Hotel Velan in the city and will be followed by a grand dinner.

Lutz Seifert, Head of Corporate Development, Hohenstein Institutes and Jacob Kutty, Country Manager, India, will be present here, along with Bhaskar Bhaktavatchalu, Manager of Tirupur branch office.Information will be provided on the latest developments in the Oeko Tex Standards and Oeko Pass - certification for dyes and chemicals used in the manufacture of Oeko Tex products.

Hosiery workers strike

2006-09-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

The joint agitation committee of major trade unions has called for a 24-hour token strike from 8 a.m. on Monday, 18th september 2006, against the "adamant attitude" of industry associations in signing a wage agreement.

Over two lakh workers in and around Tirupur would be participating in the general strike urging the implementation of 13 demands.

The joint committee of the CITU, AITUC, INTUC, LPF, MLF and the ATP said there was no progress even after four rounds of talks with the industry associations. While the unions were demanding substantial increase in wages in the fresh agreement, as the last one lapsed in May, the trade bodies insisted there would be no hike for a year and that the agreement should be for five years.

Rejecting outright the proposal for productivity linked wages and agreement for five years, the joint agitation committee said it would never accept the two "impracticable" ideas.
The CITU came down heavily on the Tirupur Exporters' Association for criticising the demonstration by its members in front of the TEA office.

CITU general secretary M. Chandran, in a statement on Sunday, said it was up to the workers and the unions to decide whether the CITU demonstration was necessary or not and certainly not the TEA. There was nothing wrong in holding a demonstration to strengthen the demands.

Mr. Chandran said the TEA had unilaterally announced that there would be no wage hike for a year and insisted that the agreement should for five years. He termed the TEA statement mischievous.

Apparel sector weaves strategy

2006-09-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

The $16 billion domestic apparel industry, which targets to achieve a huge turnover of $40 billion over the next three-four years, is gearing up to face all challenges – the current and the anticipated.

In the backdrop of fast-changing global business environment, the industry is intent on formulating its strategy after studying the global trends at the forthcoming industry event ‘Intex Autumn-Winter 2007-08’.

The international fabric and accessories sourcing trade exhibition will be held at India Expo Centre, Greater Noida, from September 28 to 30. At present, the country’s apparel exports are estimated at $8.2 billion.

The exhibition is being supported by all the top textile bodies, including the Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry, the Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council, the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council and the Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council, with government undertaking the Textiles Committee being the knowledge partner.

Emperor textile launch undergarment for trend-conscious males

2006-08-26T03:31:00.000-07:00

The Tirupur based Emperor Textile has launched their exclusive range of gents undergarments 'Playboy' in the city. S R Mills of Andhra Pradesh has the official licensee of Playboy undergarments who make the product available in Indian market.

The new range of undergarments which are launched by targeting trend-conscious males, will offer consumers a fashionable alternative in the men's undergarment market.

However the products of S R Mills are available in markets across the countries US, Canada, South and Latin Americ, Europe, Asia and Australia.

The company further proposed to launch their product in 150 stores in 13 states in the country from September and also plans to increase their product range

Raymond all set to acquire textile firm.

2006-08-26T03:16:00.000-07:00

Mumbai based textile and apparel company Raymond ltd is expected to take over domestic manufacturing unit based in Tirupur near Coimbatore.

For a start, Raymond may buy 51 percent share in the unit valued at over Rs100 crore and the official announcement could be made in the first week of September; however, a senior official of the company denied such plans.The facility has 600 machines with annual sale of Rs80 crore. Raymond had in 2003 taken over ColourPlus Fashions which is a leading domestic brand of casual wear.

Experts have opined that the move will boost the profits of Raymond with denim. Raymond is exploring new areas such as technical textile and further strengthening its home textile category.

" THE HINDU " Editorial on Tirupur

2006-08-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

Helping Tirupur do more

Few consumers around the world may be aware that workers producing fashionable high street clothes in the garment centre of Tirupur in Tamil Nadu live in unhealthy and deprived conditions. The workforce of this town with ramshackle infrastructure, broken roads, a 50 per cent deficit in good housing for nearly two lakh workers, open drains, and a deficient water supply and sanitation system amazingly overcomes such squalor to power an export juggernaut.

By the reckoning of the exporters' association of Tirupur, which is essentially spread across 28 square kilometres, the value of its knitwear exports is poised to touch Rs.10,000 crore next year. There is scope to achieve higher growth if the shortfall of skilled labour can be met. It is reasonable to ask whether the Central and State governments have done enough to help.

Have they worked to improve roads, housing, water supply, sanitation, and health care with any sense of urgency? A recent assessment by the local municipality clearly points to an inadequacy of effort to improve living conditions. On a wider scale, Tirupur is also beset with problems of industrial pollution, such as disposal of effluents and sludge from dyeing units, but the textile industry is working to mitigate these with judicially supervised control measures.

The Achilles' heel of this `dollar town' is apparently the serious shortage of quality housing. This is unsurprising given the low priority accorded to expansion of affordable shelter in official policy. The undersupply is evident from the municipality's figures that show a third of the population as living in slums. Many of the tile-roofed shanties that they occupy are located along heavily polluted waterways and have no proper sanitation; open drains run along narrow streets; solid waste disposal remains a major unresolved issue.

This is not a productivity-enhancing milieu for hosiery workers, who constitute about 60 per cent of slum residents. Only a policy that aims to create the right conditions to sustain growth in the garment industry can bring about accelerated development of Tirupur. A water and sanitation scheme in the public-private partnership mode was taken up under the Tirupur Area Development Programme and it has become operational in recent months, a decade after the first moves to augment infrastructure. Yet, it may not meet the needs of all residents, particularly the poor who cannot afford even rental housing.

A more pragmatic approach would be to build fully serviced ownership houses and affordable rental accommodation. In the area of healthcare, a proposal to build a 100-bed multi-speciality hospital for worker-members of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation is still on paper because of the non-availability of land. This is a disservice to the 80,000-plus workers who pay the premium for ESI healthcare access. Surely, the Government can and must do more for Tirupur. Its experience of unplanned expansion holds valuable lessons for towns going in for rapid industrialisation.

BHAVANI : Weavers Export Mats

2006-08-04T23:10:00.000-07:00

There is a third dimension to weaving export mats in the carpet town of Bhavani.. Along with warp and weft, profit too gets woven. And this has profited many loss-making cooperative societies. The societies that weave export variety do according to exporters' specifications. The exporters also supply raw materials and fix the delivery date.

These export mats, unlike the domestic ones, are corrugated, lengthy strips with either one or two colours in them. The weavers say consumers abroad use it as dining table and bedside mats and bathroom approaches.
In weaving these mats, the societies get 21 per cent profit against the 15 per cent in domestic mats. The domestic varieties are sent to either north India or sold through Co-optex
.
Besides the increased profit, another advantage is export mats are easy to weave, as the width is considerably narrow. "The export varieties are usually 13 inches wider, whereas the domestic mats have a minimum width of 34 inches. This enables even women to weave," says an officer of the Elango Weavers' Cooperative Society. Since it is easy to weave, the weavers produce more and earn more. A rough calculation suggests that a weaver weaving export variety gets Rs. 20 to Rs. 30 more a day.

The story of weavers and societies weaving export mats using knitwear waste is no different. Instead of yarn in weft, strips of knitwear waste, particularly those from vests, is used. This is cheaper compared to yarn mats, though. Both these export mat varieties and the six per cent increased profit margin that go with it have reflected in the bottom line of the societies.

Elango Weavers' Cooperative Society that struggled with a loss of Rs. 23.17 lakh a decade ago has reduced it to Rs. 4.5 lakh.

"This is largely owing to the income from export mats," says an officer of the society.

Sri Venkateswara Cooperative Society, too, has a similar story to tell."Three years ago when we began weaving export variety we suffered a deficit of Rs. 8 lakh. In the 2005-06 financial year we have a profit of Rs. 8 lakh and will soon declare a bonus of 10 per cent," says an officer of the society.

India : IT systems key to textiles

2006-07-31T23:48:00.000-07:00

A third of the country's export earnings are contributed by the textile industry. Right from sourcing the raw material to making the fabric and IT plays a crucial role. Fortunately, textile unlike logistics does not suffer from the problem of not having an ERP or an enterprise-wide solution.

In case of textiles, ERP vendors are attacking the market aggressively, knowing that most of the textile companies, except the big ones, operate with disparate IT systems. Most of the companies have built disparate IT architectures making integration a far cry.Since the beginning of this decade, the managements of the textile companies have started focusing closely on IT. Large textile groups started looking at improving productivity across the organization due to global competition.

Even large domestic textile companies have adopted integrated IT systems like ERP, SCM and CRM. The companies that have adopted ERP have primarily automated financials, sales and distribution, materials management and plant maintenance processes.But lots of mid-sized and small textile companies that have homegrown non-integrated applications have essentially automated financial accounting and sales invoicing systems.

Merchandising peculiarities, market planning and forecasting, product planning and seasonal variations are some of the key IT challenges the industry faces, particularly in India that affects the manufacturing cycle.

Duty drawback hits apparel firms

2006-07-26T04:12:00.000-07:00

The apparel industry is losing about Rs 600 crore every year because of unpaid duty drawback by the government.

"The apparel business works on 5-6 per cent margin and we pay 9-10 per cent duty in various forms such as excise, service tax, VAT and delay in the receipt of drawback is hitting the industry," said Vijay Agarwal, chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council.

The council represents about 3,700 garment exporters including garments manufacturers.

In a recent notification, the government raised rates for duty drawback to 7.8 from 7.5 per cent for manmade fibres.

Similarly, for blended garments it was raised to 7.2 per cent from 6.8 per cent, and for cotton garments it was raised to 6.7 per cent from 6 per cent.

"Keeping in mind the high transaction cost, duties, cesses, excises, levies and the incidence of service tax, the current drawback is miniscule against our expectations of 2-3 per cent," added Agarwal.

He further hinted that the textile ministry's target of $15 billion for garments export by 2010 would be unachievable if the government does not provide major incentives. Despite the country's potential, India's share in the global trade stands at 3.6 per cent.

Post WTO, the country made significant progress in the exports to the US and the EU, shipping about 70 per cent of total exports, and the volume of exports started growing by 33 per cent. The year 2002-03 witnessed a total exports turnover of $6.2 billion in 2002-03. For 2005-06, the turnover was seen at $8.22 billion. In the current financial year, the industry estimates total exports to jump to $9.5 billion, thus continuing its growth which started in the beginning of the decade. "When cotton and synthetic garments require higher value addition than man made fibres, why the drawback has not been revised in similar tune?" said Agarwal.

Today, the country exports roughly 1.6 billion pieces of garments every year, which provide employment to around 3 million workers mainly women, other backward classes, weaker sections of the society and minorities.

The council is planning to increase exports to Latin America, East European countries and South East Asia where the representation is much lower and the potential is much higher.

When asked about how to survive in case of four months delay in drawback from the government, one of the renowned exporter of the industry said that better economy of scale, better infrastructure etc would fetch better money for survival.

As realisation in exports markets has come down dramatically by about 20 per cent due to healthy competition from the overseas markets including China, the timely drawback is significant.

India’s share in US textiles imports hits new high

2006-07-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

THE LEVY of quotas on Chinese textiles in the US has begun to benefit Indian exporters.

India’s market share in the US textiles import market has touched an all time high of 7% in March 2006. And while China still remains the largest textile exporter to the US with a market share of 20.6%, this figure has been declining steadily in recent times. The rate of growth of Indian textile exports to the US, too, is outpacing the Chinese growth. In March, Indian exports grew by 6.9% against China’s 1.9% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. India’s realisations, too, have grown by 9% on a YoY basis to $2.1 per unit. India’s export growth was largely driven by items on which safeguard limits were imposed for Chinese exports.

A Morgan Stanley report states that India is likely to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of restrictions imposed on China. ”India gained 41 bps market share in total textile exports to the US and China lost 28 bps (YOY) during March due to the levy of quotas,” said the report. Domestic textile experts do agree that safeguards on China has helped India’s textile exports but add that Indian textile sector has its own inherent strengths. “We have an edge over China where higher degree of value addition is required. But China is still a giant in the volumes game,” said Confederation of Indian Textile Industry secretary general D K Nair. For the 12 month period ended March 2006, India’s textile exports to the US stood at $4.8 billion against China’s $22 billion plus.

Seven categories of textile and clothing items are the major drivers of India’s textile growth in March 2006. These include cotton shirts and blouses, trousers and shorts, slacks, underwear and man-made fibre knit shirts and blouses. Data show that gains of India in these segments are not because of expanding US market but mainly due to decline in China and Pakistan’s share. For instance, India reported 67% growth in women’s cotton knit shirts and blouses segment, while China’s growth in the same category declined by 52% and Pakistan’s by 12% in March. Similarly, there has been a steep 144% rise in Indian exports of silk and vegetable fibre-based trousers, breeches and shorts in March 2006.

Pakistan’s exports in the same category came down by 61% negative while China had to reconcile with a modest 12% growth. One area of concern for Indian textile exporters could be that there has been a slow down in the rate of growth of the US textile import market in February-March 2006. This was largely due to decline in US retail sales. New Delhi is however bullish about future prospects. “Country’s total exports in 2005-06 has touched $17 billion (Rs 76,500 crore), up from about $13 billion (Rs 58,584 crore) in 2004-05. The target is to touch $40 billion mark by 2010,” a textile ministry official said.

Textile Exports to Grow at 19% CAGR

2006-07-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory estimates that India's textile exports will increase from around USD 17 billion last year (FY 2006) to around USD 40 billion by FY 2011 (CY 2010, 18.7% CAGR).

The last one year of quota-free trade has seen India become the third largest supplier of textile and clothing to the USA from being the fourth largest in 2005, while in the extra - EU-25 market, India has retained its third position behind Turkey. The trade competitiveness factors of multi fibre base, value chain integration and low labour cost provide a globally competitive cost structure for operations, driving relocation of international industry.

Key trends to watch for, according to CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory, are the growing share of organised retail and media exposure driving consumerism that can result in a 10-15% growth per annum in the branded goods segment alone, boosting in particular the clothing industry as well as the significant increase expected in India's exports. Growth opportunities exist in the equipment industry, where nearly 70% of machinery & accessory requirements are currently met through imports as per a recent CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory estimate, and the area of technical textiles in which the global market opportunity is over USD 107 billion in 2005 and expected to grow at 4% per annum over the next five years.

India is currently a net importer of items like industrial fabrics, waddings, felts, non-wovens, special fabrics, high tenacity yarn, etc., thereby presenting an opportunity to foreign firms with technological prowess to set-up base in India for such products.

Mr. K. Raghuram, Head - CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory, added that, "An enabling environment for FDI is in place: Indications from the Union Textile Minister on creating a separate FDI cell within the ministry to mobilise Rs. 50 crore worth of FDI per day on an average for next five years are a welcome move. Also the passage of the SEZ Act offers a fantastic opportunity to keep aside traditional objections and issues impacting entry of a new business.

A recent survey of global executives by AT Kearney puts India as the 2nd most preferred location for FDI behind China. With plans to set-up 25 integrated textile parks under the SITP, and undertaking modernisation of around 29 mills of NTC through the joint venture route with private sector enterprises, the enabling environment for attracting FDI is being created.

Tirupur exporters target Rs 10,000 Crore business by ’08

2006-07-04T05:11:00.000-07:00

Knitwear exporters in Tirupur are fine tuning their skills and increasing investments to raise their exports to Rs 10,000 crore by 2008. The exports touched Rs 8,000 crore in 2006, up 30% from the previous year.

The fashion-conscious Tirupur exporters who are specialised in manufacturing value-added products for the European and the US customers, even by taking very small orders, are optimistic about increasing exports to the targetted levels and employing more people. Since the end of the quota system, there has been no dearth of export orders. To cater the new demand, more than 50 companies in the region are making substantial investments in modern manufacturing and finishing machineries.

There are also investments on backward integration for setting up spinning mills to produce quality yarn at competitive cost. China has still quota restrictions from the US and EU. “This quota cushion of China will end by January 2008, and we will face the real music thereafter,” an exporter said. Hence it is essential to build on our strengths and be competitive, he added.

The Chinese strength is in basic garments and its economies of scale. The exporters there have uninterrupted power supply, hassle-free infrastructure and above all flexible labour laws. A Sakthivel, president of Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) said, “China has better infrastructure facilities like wider roads, good port facilities and uninterrupted power supply. They have also provided tax holidays for industries that operate in certain specified region.

“In the labour front, they are following contract labour system. The workers productivity is 60% more than the Indian garment labour, and in case the workers fail to achieve the required production they can be immediately replaced. The Chinese industry also have the flexibilities in repayment of term loans. The VAT charged at 12% is entirely refunded to the exporters.”

Sakthivel was the member of a delegation led by the textile secretary that visited China at the invitation of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), Beijing, during June 18-24, 2006. The delegation visited various facilities in spinning, processing and garment-making and held discussions with the senior officials and managers of these divisions.

He added, “The Chinese industry has so many favourable factors compared to the Indian industry. The government has to seriously think of providing similar facilities to our garment exporters to compete with the Chinese in the international market.”

The Central government is promising to provide a minimum of 100 days of job at a daily wage of Rs 60. The knitwear industry has been promising 200 days of job at Rs 70/day. Such a freedom of seasonal employment was essential in the coming years to succeed, the TEA officials added.

Comfort and Elegance in knits

2006-06-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

Performance, comfort and elegance are what customers are asking for in knits. Featherweight, luster, silky-touch, lacy and soft fabrics are in style for spring. India-based Maral Overseas Ltd. and Italy-based Marioboselli Jersey S.p.A. are showing seamless technology. Maral is selling lightweight sheers for tees, tops and camis to the Gap and Banana Republic. Silk, cotton, bamboo/cashmere and MicroModal® are going into jerseys, ribs and mélange stripes. Marioboselli is offering all-over laser-cut patterns, laces and burn-outs. One new item in this line is an indigo-dyed knitted denim for garment washing.

Greuter Jersey AG, Switzerland, is knitting ultrafine cottons using 50-gauge machines. Rainbow cottons are a popular new development. Using a treated yarn from Switzerland-based Hermann Bühler AG, tonal and contrast colored patterns can be achieved in one dyebath. For active sportswear, the company is producing temperature-regulating, moisture-management and antibacterial fabrics.

Open crochet work, shiny/dull patterns, novelty stripes, and high/low relief jacquards in happy colors and black and white are some of the highlights at France-based Billon Frères. Paris-based knitter Guigou S.A. has a linen jersey fabric with a washed finish; and light and lustrous, nubbed or lacy linen blended with silk or cotton. There are bamboo knits with a chamois touch, cotton crepes, ottomans and fantasy metallics. A new viscose/nylon yarn is going into lightweight pointelles that are piece-dyed to create a matte/shiny effect.

Sheers at Italy-based Dondi Jersey are open, opaque/transparent or high/low-patterned. Jacketweight jacquards come in animal-skin patterns, nautical stripes, fish or mini-geometrics. Shiny, mini-patterned lace is knitted in cotton/raffia.

India's textiles: Potential meets reality

2006-06-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

Since the dismantling of the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) on January 1, 2005, which drastically liberalized the global textile trade, there has been much excitement in India about the role that the sector could play, mainly with respect to exports, and how textiles might impact the economy as a whole. While the potential is undoubtedly there, how much of it can be translated into reality remains an open question.

The global textile and clothing industry is worth more than US$4.395 trillion, with clothing accounting for 60% of the market and textiles the remaining 40%. Global trade in textiles and clothing is currently at $356 billion and is expected to grow to $600 billion by 2010. The bulk of the increase is expected to be in clothing, which is projected to grow from $199 billion to about $400 billion.

The United States and the European Union together dominate consumption, accounting for 64% of clothing and 39% of textiles consumption in 2004. The US market alone accounts for $15 billion and is growing at 5% a year. Among other countries, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are significant consumers of textiles.
The Indian textile industry is one of the largest and most important sectors in the economy in terms of output, foreign-exchange earnings and employment. As of 2005, it contributed about 20% of industrial production, 9% of excise collections, 18% of employment in the industrial sector, nearly 20% to the country's total export earnings and 4% of overall gross domestic product. The sector employs nearly 35 million people and is the second-highest employer in the country. The textile sector also has a direct link with the rural economy and the consumption of major fiber crops and crafts such as cotton, wool, silk, handicrafts and handlooms, which employ millions of farmers and craftspersons in rural and semi-urban areas. It has been estimated that one out of every six households in the country depends directly or indirectly on this sector.

India has several comparative advantages in the textile sector, including an abundant availability of raw material and labor. It is the second-largest player in the world cotton trade. It has the largest cotton acreage, at about 9 million hectares, and is the third-largest producer of cotton fiber in the world. It ranks fourth in terms of staple fiber production and fourth in polyester yarn production.

Small-scale fabricators dominate garment manufacturing. Most garment-manufacturing units use reasonably up-to-date technology. The bulk of apparel is produced by about 77,000 small-scale units classified as domestic manufacturers, manufacturer-exporters, and fabricators (subcontractors).

One of the worst-hit sectors when interest rates skyrocketed during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the debt-laden Indian textile industry has spun many turnaround stories since then. Aided by lower interest rates, restructuring packages from financial institutions and the recent dismantling of quotas, the sector is today well poised to capture growth opportunities.

Exports of textiles and clothing from India have also been growing strongly over the past 10-15 years. Since 1992, Indian textile and clothing exports have grown 7.7% annually, reaching $13.4 billion in 2002 and accounting for 4% of the global trade in this sector. In 2002, India was the fifth-largest exporter and the second-largest net exporter of textiles and clothing. Cotton-based products dominate the bulk of exports.

The dominant markets for India's textile and apparel exports are the US and EU, which together accounted for nearly 83% of exports in 2003. Exports to the US have increased since the MFA expired - analysis of trade figures from the US Census Bureau shows that post-MFA exports from India to the United States in 2005 rose 27% year-on-year from 2004. According to the statistics made available by the Indian government's Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, India's textile exports during the period April-December 2005 increased by about 20%.

Problems facing the industry
In spite of the many favorable factors and strong recent growth, numerous obstacles remain that could prevent the Indian textile sector from reaching its full potential.

Unfavorable labor laws
Restrictive labor laws in India have been unfavorable to more rapid expansion the industry. In the absence of concrete labor policies, the industry has often been paralyzed by strikes, thereby compromising efficient operations. Archaic, inflexible labor laws have not allowed the sector to expand and modernize, resulting in many undersized operations.

Logistical woes
India also has logistic disadvantages due to its geographical location; the country is further from major markets than competitors such as Mexico, Turkey and China, which are closer to major markets such as the US, Europe and Japan, respectively. This increases shipping costs. Also, internally, relatively poor road connectivity and the inadequacy of ports and other export infrastructure have adversely affected the Indian textile sector's competitiveness.

According to an Indian entrepreneur based in Dubai, a consignment of fabric can take up to 25 days to reach the manufacturer in India, particularly in Mumbai or Delhi, compared with 15 days in Sri Lanka. Customs clearance can be tricky. It might be three days in Chennai but upwards of 10 days in Mumbai, depending on whether one has a full container or not. And then comes the long march; negotiating interstate barriers, octroi (local entry tax), checkpoints and bad roads.

A similar set of problems applies to exports, though in that case the time spent at customs is less. Overall, Indian garment exporters are generally at a 15-to-21-day logistics disadvantage. Not surprisingly, this has discouraged foreign direct investment in the sector.

Archaic regulations
Although quota restrictions have been dismantled, Indian textile players continue to grapple with archaic government regulations such as the "Handloom Reservation Order" and the "Hank Yarn Obligation Order".

Lack of quality manpower
A recent study by the Textiles Committee noted that a mere 6% of the workforce in the Indian apparel industry has received formal institutional training. At the supervisory level, only 2% of the workforce is trained. This certainly presents a very disappointing picture for a segment that is expected to drive the growth of the entire textile industry in the future.

According to the Textile Policy, the Indian apparel sector is projected to grow to about $25 billion by 2010 from about $12 billion at present. This seems to be a tall order given the quality of manpower and infrastructure India now possesses. The lack of training has taken an immense toll on overall productivity, even as India boasts of having one of the cheapest manpower pools globally.

The study also revealed that India's education and training base is far from satisfactory. Moreover, there is a lack of interaction between the industry and educational institutes, which mostly fail to impart relevant education and training. Bridging this gap will require formulating a comprehensive strategy to revamp the entire system and make it more proactive. The setting up of a competitive textile-production base will call for the sustained availability of efficient manpower.

Over the years, India has enjoyed cost-effective labor. But changing technology now requires changes in the labor-force profile as well. Demand for technical and skilled manpower is showing a big jump, while requirements for unskilled workers may not go up commensurately in the future. This growing disparity requires immediate attention. The existing labor laws have impacted the overall manpower supply and blunted the edge that the domestic industry has always enjoyed. It is time that the government brings about some alternative mechanism to deal with this complicated issue.

An obvious solution is to upgrade the education and training system, but the government's recent move to carry out a major revamp under the Nodal Center for Upgradation of Textile Education program has not yet shown the desired results. The process has been moving slowly. The effort has to be given greater urgency so that the industry can meet growing demand. This issue has assumed huge significance, since over the past two decades or so, the industry's depressed condition has adversely impacted the supply of skilled labor for the industry.

Cost constraints
Apart from low-cost labor, other factors that affect competitiveness are relative interest cost, power tariffs, structural anomalies and productivity levels (affected by technological obsolescence). A study by the International Textile Manufacturers Federation revealed high power costs in India as compared with other countries such as Brazil, China, Italy, South Korea, Turkey and the US. Power's share of the total cost of production for the spinning, weaving and knitting of ring and open-end yarn for India ranged from 10-17%, which is also higher than that of such countries as Brazil, South Korea and China. Capital costs as a percentage of total production cost in India were also higher, ranging from 20-29% as compared with 12-26% in China.

Technological constraints
The rush of garment exports in the quota-free regime has not yet materialized in the Indian textile sector. Lack of state-of-the-art technology poses the most serious challenge to India's attempt to increase its exports. The total number of shuttleless looms as a percentage of total looms in India in 2003 was 9.5% as against 94.8% in the US and 95.2% in Austria, according to the Indian Ministry of Textiles. India's number of shuttleless looms as a percentage of total looms is the second-lowest, next only to Pakistan with 7.6%.

Though the government introduced the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme for the textile industry in 1999, the approach of the authorities implementing the scheme remained rigid, as can be seen from the fact that disbursals of funds during the first five years amounted to only about Rs70 billion ($1.53 billion), against the target of Rs250 billion. Also, the concept of technological upgradation was diluted by permitting imports of second-hand equipment that had been sold by overseas entrepreneurs installing more modern equipment.

Fragmentation keeps industry below-scale
Given the fragmented nature of the industry, the Indian players are unable to reap the benefits of economies of scale, in sharp contrast to the Chinese. This is a major reason, thus far at least, that Chinese textile manufacturers have reaped most of the benefits of the post-quota regime. This is the legacy of India's policy of reserving the textile sector for small-scale players, which limited its growth. Even big textile houses have preferred to set up several smaller companies rather than have one or two monoliths, solely to save on taxes, at the cost of global competitiveness. In India, very few exporters have gone in for integrated production facilities.

It is noteworthy that those countries that have emerged as globally competitive - for instance, South Korea, China, Turkey, Pakistan and Mexico - have significantly consolidated supply chains. In contrast, apart from spinning, such activities as weaving, processing and garmenting are fragmented in India.

Besides being fragmented, the supply chain in the Indian textile industry is beset with bottlenecks that could very well slow down the growth of the sector. As a result, the average delivery lead times (from procurement to fabrication and shipment of garments) still take about 45-60 days. With international lead delivery times coming down to 30-35 days, India needs to cut down its production-cycle time substantially to stay in the market.

Low productivity
Though India is one of the major producers of cotton yarn and fabric, the productivity of cotton production, as measured by yield per unit of land, has been found to be lower than in many countries. The level of productivity in China, Turkey and Brazil is more than 1 tonne per hectare, while in India it is only about 300 kilograms per hectare.

In the man-made-fiber sector, India ranks fifth in terms of capacity. However, the capacity and technology of this sector need to be further enhanced in view of the changing fiber consumption in the world. The share of cotton in world fiber demand declined from about 50% (13.34 million tonnes) in 1982 to about 38% (18.25 million tonnes) in 2003, while the share of man-made fiber has increased from 44% (11.88 million tonnes) to about 60% (28.81 million tonnes) over the same period. Besides, the level of technology in the Indian weaving sector is low compared with other countries of the world.

While India does indeed have the potential to be a major player in the global textile trade in the coming decades, it needs to overcome the aforementioned problems to do so.

Tirupur institute develops new fabrics

2006-06-05T04:04:00.000-07:00

An institute here has developed three new fabrics using spun silk, linen and hemp, instead of cotton, as the raw material.

The initiative is gaining significance with a tie-up between a Canadian fashion designer-cum-retailer, the institute and a local garment manufacturer, for bulk production and marketing of the fabrics. Lauding the effort of the Premier Institute of Apparel Management (PIAM), designer Henri Chero describes it is a path-breaking initiative.

"The world is moving to eco-friendly products. There has been no significant improvement in the field of knitwear fashion for the last six to seven years. Different types of washes, embroidery or embellishments are not construed as new fashion in the West. Though it may be a value addition, the change should come from fabric itself."
PIAM Joint Director T. Saravana Kumar says due to intricacies in circular knitting machines, development of new fabrics consumes much time and effort. "Our new fabrics were being woven for decades. After a series of processing that went on for years, we developed the fabric on knit."

According to him, the fabrics are soft, durable and lightweight. Four sample garments have been approved for next Canada season. Though the cost of these new products is two to three times higher than that of cotton garments, Mr. Chero is hopeful of eliciting a good response in Europe.

The institute will develop the concept of future fashion trends into real product with newly designed fabrics.
Large-scale production will be made at another unit. Mr. Kumar hints that the trio will enter into a long-time memorandum of understanding once the first phase proves successful.

The Tirupur industry has the infrastructure to produce high fashion garments. It has to concentrate on producing these garments on a minimum scale for better profit and to compete with China and other competitors, Mr. Kumar observes.

Palladam weaving park plans marketing consortium

2006-06-01T02:24:00.000-07:00

Palladam Hi-Tech Weaving Park plans to form a consortium to help the weavers, who will set up units at the park, to market the fabric.

The Chairman and Managing Director of the Park, M. Senthil Kumar, told presspersons at Palladam on Wednesday that "strategic investors" and an American company would be members of the consortium. The special purpose vehicle that was implementing the project would invest Rs. 75 crore in the consortium towards creation of common facilities and working capital.

The common facilities would be for pre-weaving (such as a common sizing unit) and post- weaving. The total project cost of the park was expected to be over Rs. 200 crore. Mr Kumar said the park would have 750 shuttleless looms and about 200 of these were likely to be second-hand machines. And all the machines would be imported.

The participants had already placed orders for 250 air jet looms and were likely to go in for another 100 rapier looms. The machines would start arriving from October. The civil works would be completed by September and production would start at the park from December. The marketing consortium would be formed earlier as it would buy yarn and do the preparatory work for the units. The fabric would be inspected before selling in the market.

St John freight plan subsidiary in Belgium

2006-05-26T02:20:00.000-07:00

The Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) and St John Freight Systems (SJFS), which recently formed a 50:50 JV for establishing a warehouse in Antwerp, will soon float a subsidiary in Belgium.

The company would be undertaking warehousing and distribution of garments in Europe. Incidentally, SJFS already has a subsidiary in Antwerp, which serves corporate clients in Europe and India. “The JV will be a one-stop solution for end-to-end service with focus on supply chain for garment distribution,” TEA said in a press release. Besides providing ‘seamless supply chain solutions’ in Europe for Tirupur sellers and European buyers, it would also employ sales team in Antwerp.

The company is also planning to act as a trading house. SJFS has tied up with a major warehouse operator in Antwerp for warehousing, distribution and outsourcing of transportation. Apart from setting up an own warehouse, the company has plans to open retail stores and showrooms in major European cities.It is also considering floating similar subsidiaries in the US and the UK.

Power supply to 147 dyeing units stopped

2006-05-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Power supply to 147 dyeing units in Tirupur was stopped in wake of a High Court directive ordering their closure.The High Court had given the directive, following the failure of the dyeing units to furnish 50 percent of the project cost as deposit for the installation of Reverse Osmosis (RO) units to treat the effluents generated by them.

Based on the High Court order, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) had sent a letter to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), directing it to disconnect electricity supply to the 147 units coming under six Common Effluent Treatment (CET) plants . There are 700-odd dyeing and bleaching units in Tirupur.According to TNPCB authorities, out of the 19 CETs, the units coming under six CETs had failed to comply with the court order, even though sufficient time was given to them. Several units had set up individual treatment plants, they said.

They have doubts whether the plants would be useful in the long run after making massive investments for their installation.They were thinking about trying other technologies, including a Russia-based technology to treat waste water, said Govindasamy.Meanwhile, Dyers’ Association of Tirupur president N Kandaswamy, secretary Samiappan and owners of the units, whose power supply was disconnected, rushed to Chennai on Wednesday to meet the authorities concerned.The Madras High Court had earlier ordered the dyeing and bleaching units to furnish half of the project cost as deposit for attaining zero effluent discharge, including the installation of RO plants.

Apparel council to open two more training centres

2006-05-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has decided to open two more centres of the Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC) at Kanpur and Tronica city in Uttar Pradesh, a statement issued by the council stated here on May 21.

The proposed centres will be opened at the `Textile & Hosiery Park', Rooma, Kanpur and Apparel Park for Export, Tronica City, Ghaziabad district (UP) respectively. The Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation (UPSIDC) has provided the space at a nominal rate to the council. The two organisations have signed the lease agreement for the proposal. The apparel industry of Uttar Pradesh would be immensely benefited after the opening of the centres, where the trained manpower would be made available to boost the productivity in the apparel industry.

ATDC’s 13 centres are already functioning at Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Tirupur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata, Mumbai, Indore and the 14th centre at Surat would be functional shortly. The functional centres accommodate 6000 students who are undergoing training. However the centres at Kanpur and Tronica city would begin functional during the current year.

Orient Craft plans IPO

2006-05-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

Apparel exporter Orient Craft Ltd. (OCL) plans to raise about Rs 3 bn within four months through an initial public offer and private equity, a senior official said on Friday. OCL, a supplier to global retailers such as Gap Inc and Marks & Spencer Group Plc, would use Rs 2.5 bn from the funds to set up a garment unit,

The company, which has 21 units, expects its daily garment production to rise to 150,000 units from 125,000 once two new plants it is building start in August. OCL posted a net profit of Rs 270 mn and turnover of Rs 7.45 bn in 2005/06. OCL had obtained an "in-principle approval" from the government to to develop a 500-acre (202-hectare) Special Economic Zone (SEZ) where tax concessions would bring savings for OCL,

Govt urged to co-promote in disposal of textile sewage project

2006-05-18T00:34:00.000-07:00

The Tamil Nadu government has been urged to be a co-promoter in the project of disposal of textile sewage proposed by the knitwear exporters in Tirupur. The Tirupur Exporters Association President Mr.A.Sakthivel association further clarified that the participation of the state government would ensure the successful implementation of the project and wants the chief minister to initiate essential steps to take part in the proposed project.

The president, A Sakthivel pointed out that by next year, the export of knitwear from Tirupur is on the edge to reach the Rs 10,000 crore mark but further stated that the only problem faced by the knitwear industry is the discharge of effluents from dyeing industry. The project will handle the marine discharge of the dye-house effluent and would benefit the textile sectors such as Perundurai, Erode and Karur, besides Tirupur.

TEA also said that the implementation of marine discharge would help in boosting the economy of textile industry and also the employment growth of the State.

Value addition will boost Andhra Pradesh textile sector: CII study

2006-05-18T00:08:00.000-07:00

The State’s textile sector is expected to be $8 billion industry by 2015and much of the growth will have to come from large scale value addition through weaving, processing and garmenting. Hence, CII urges the government to provide sops for the manufacture of technical textiles, encourage setting up of more auto looms and facilitate setting up of processing units at coastal belts where there is no water scarcity.

To facilitate the development of integrated textile industry in large scale, CII recommends the government to establish a Textile City in 2500 acres with water supply and effluent treatment. The CII Study estimates that by 2015 weaving in Andhra Pradesh will increase over 5 times to touch 4139 million meter; cloth processing, a major thrust area, to grow almost 100 times to touch around 1300 million meter and the garment export will grow 40 times to 600 million pieces.

The State can earn higher margins in the manufacture of technical textiles, when compared to natural fibres. Technical textile also has a better export potential. With the reduction in the excise duty on man-made fibres, the contribution of man-made fibres in terms of blended fabrics is projected to get a big boost. The Study sees great potential for the weaving sector, which is expected to increase over five times to touch around 4200 million meter. Though Andhra Pradesh produces about 14 per cent of the cotton in the country, only one per cent of the entire weaving is done here. This reflects underutilization of the cotton production owning to inadequate weaving capacity of the State.

The weaving facility will jump in the proportion of the use of air jet looms the power looms and hand looms. From 500 air jet looms in 2005 (which constitutes 1% of the total weaving capacity of India), the number will increase to 2,500 in 2010 and 5000 in 2015; from 44,000 in 2005 power looms will touch 61,712 in 2010 and 86,555 in 2015. While, the handlooms will grow from 2,13,000 in 2005 to 4,56,429 in 2015. Cloth processing, a major thrust area for Andhra Pradesh, is to grow almost 100 times to touch a figure of around 1300 million meter by 2015. Presently the State has less than 3% of processing capacity of the raw fabric produced. CII expects that by 2010 the State shall be processing 50% of the fabric produced other than the handloom sector by 2010 and may attempt to process 70% of fabric within the State by 2015.

The projected target would mean the processing of 600 million metres by 2010 and 1300 million metres by 2015. It is recommended that adequate number of processing units need to be setup in the State so that the value realized after weaving is higher than what the State presently earns. Since the availability of water is adequate in coastal Andhra Pradesh, the processing units can be setup in this belt.

In the Knitting sector, AP presently produces 20 tons per day of knitted fabrics, which is less than one per cent of Tirupur production capacity. However, considering woven to knitted ratio as 70:30, the high potential the State can target up to adding 250 ton per day by 2010 and 500 ton per day by 2015. In garments, cotton garments is to dominate by constituting 70-75 per cent of the market. The State’s garment export will grow over 40 times to 600 million pieces in 2015. The Study suggests that major garmenting units of the State can be brought up in and around Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur.

CII also recommends the Government to setup more Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) where the Government would have 40% holding and the private players would have 60 per cent for the maintenance and sharing of common resources in the textile/apparel parks being set up in the State.

Value addition will boost Andhra Pradesh textile sector: CII study

2006-05-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

It reiterates that the State’s textile sector is expected to be $8 billion industry by 2015and much of the growth
will have to come from large scale value addition through weaving, processing and garmenting. Hence, CII urges the government to provide sops for the manufacture of technical textiles, encourage setting up of more auto looms and facilitate setting up of processing units at coastal belts where there is no water scarcity.

To facilitate the development of integrated textile industry in large scale, CII recommends the government to establish a Textile City in 2500 acres with water supply and effluent treatment. The CII Study estimates that by 2015 weaving in Andhra Pradesh will increase over 5 times to touch 4139 million meter; cloth processing, a major thrust area, to grow almost 100 times to touch around 1300 million meter and the garment export will grow 40 times to 600 million pieces.

The State can earn higher margins in the manufacture of technical textiles, when compared to natural fibres. Technical textile also has a better export potential. With the reduction in the excise duty on man-made fibres, the contribution of man-made fibres in terms of blended fabrics is projected to get a big boost. The Study sees great potential for the weaving sector, which is expected to increase over five times to touch around 4200 million meter. Though Andhra Pradesh produces about 14 per cent of the cotton in the country, only one per cent of the entire weaving is done here. This reflects underutilization of the cotton production owning to inadequate weaving capacity of the State.

The weaving facility will jump in the proportion of the use of air jet looms the power looms and hand looms. From 500 air jet looms in 2005 (which constitutes 1% of the total weaving capacity of India), the number will increase to 2,500 in 2010 and 5000 in 2015; from 44,000 in 2005 power looms will touch 61,712 in 2010 and 86,555 in 2015. While, the handlooms will grow from 2,13,000 in 2005 to 4,56,429 in 2015. Cloth processing, a major thrust area for Andhra Pradesh, is to grow almost 100 times to touch a figure of around 1300 million meter by 2015. Presently the State has less than 3% of processing capacity of the raw fabric produced. CII expects that by 2010 the State shall be processing 50% of the fabric produced other than the handloom sector by 2010 and may attempt to process 70% of fabric within the State by 2015.

The projected target would mean the processing of 600 million metres by 2010 and 1300 million metres by 2015. It is recommended that adequate number of processing units need to be setup in the State so that the value realized after weaving is higher than what the State presently earns. Since the availability of water is adequate in coastal Andhra Pradesh, the processing units can be setup in this belt.

In the Knitting sector, AP presently produces 20 tons per day of knitted fabrics, which is less than one per cent of Tirupur production capacity. However, considering woven to knitted ratio as 70:30, the high potential the State can target up to adding 250 ton per day by 2010 and 500 ton per day by 2015. In garments, cotton garments is to dominate by constituting 70-75 per cent of the market. The State’s garment export will grow over 40 times to 600 million pieces in 2015. The Study suggests that major garmenting units of the State can be brought up in and around Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Guntur.

CII also recommends the Government to setup more Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) where the Government would have 40% holding and the private players would have 60 per cent for the maintenance and sharing of common resources in the textile/apparel parks being set up in the State.

Swiss apparel brand plans tie-up with Gangotri

2006-05-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

After Switcher, the European basic apparel brand from Switzerland which some years ago opted to work with local collaborator from Tirupur in co-branding `Switcher' garments in India, another Swiss fashion apparel brand, Trailer, is now bidding for a similar venture to explore the Indian market for its range of garments in association with a local partner.

The Trailer-Gangotri alliance is expected to lead to a joint brand promotion by the two at an appropriate time.
The $20-million Trailer, which has a network of garment retailing within Switzerland and supplies its apparel collections to the boutiques in Canada, Germany and Scandinavian countries, is known for fabric and product innovation in both woven and knitted tops and pants intended for the high-end fashion garment segments.

Started in 1990, Trailer is seen as an apparel brand for the youth in the 18-30 age group. More than 70 per cent of its apparel range is focused on women.

The tie-up with Trailer will enable Gangotri obtain the knowhow in innovative product designing as well as the feedback on the market.

"Trailer has its own garment design centre and has expertise in market networking. Gangotri plans to shortly introduce men's shirts and has plans to enter women's apparel too.

Tubeknit Fashions picks Donna Karan order to supply t-shirts

2006-04-27T04:12:00.000-07:00

Tubeknit Fashions picks Donna Karan order to supply t-shirts. The contract size is huge close to 70,000 T-shirts over next two months.

Export quota regime severely limited ambition and most exporters like Tubeknit used to focus on Europe. Orders from the European labels were small and margins wafer thin, but it kept them in business over 3 decades.

Until recently, Americans preferred to do business with China because textile factories there had large capacities that can easily handle high volume orders. Leading Tirupur factories are beginning to scale up capacities to deal with high volume business from America.

European labels gave 10 to 15 percent margins above production cost. The Americans are ready to give us up to 25 percent, said P. Parthasarathi, Founder and Managing Director of Tubeknit Fashions, one of the top five knitwear exporters of Tirupur.

Tubeknit makes the DKNY T-shirts for just $4 each and sells them for about $5.

Tubeknit’s turnover swelled almost 30 percent to Rs 155 crore during the year ended March 31. In 2005, it reported a turnover of Rs 122.35 crore and a net profit of Rs 2.31 crore.

Tirupur Exports Touched Rs.8000 Crores.

2006-04-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

The Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA) has said that the knitwear exports from here has touched Rs. 8,000 crores for the fiscal 2005-06 ending March 31. The TEA president, A. Sakthivel, told reporters here on Saturday that it was Rs. 6,000 crores last year - an increase of 33 per cent. With the absence of the quota system since January 1, 2005, there was constrains in arriving the exact quantum of exports, he said.
"Knitwear garments produced here being exported through various ports and airports. Though we could not get exact figure but we could manage to arrive the quantum of exports with the import figures of various countries,'' Mr. Sakthivel said. There was an apprehension in some quarters that the phasing out of the quotas would shatter the exports from Tirupur. But, he said, they were confident that it would prove to be a boon for them and he was happy that it happened on the expected lines. Normally exports from this town register a growth around 20 per cent a year. The export to the U.S. market had increased to 34 per cent while that to the European Union 30 per cent. Mr. Sakthivel said that Rs.13,000 crores worth knitwear garments have been exported from the country. Of which, Tirupur contributes Rs. 8,000 crores.
The 22nd India Knit Fair for spring/summer collection 2007 will be held at IKF Complex here between May 10 and 12.Mr. Sakthivel, who is also chairman of the India Knit Fair Association (IKFA), said that 50 new buyers from Europe would visit the fair. The IKFA had appointed an exclusive agency to improve buyers visit. Besides catwalk on the ramp by models to display summer/spring collections, a symposium on exports will be conducted on May 9. Leading buyers and buying houses will participate in the event. Mr. Sakthivel and G. Karthikeyan, secretary, TEA said hat 500 dyeing and bleaching houses in Tirupur have expressed their desire to participate in the project o let off the textile effluent into sea. "We have requested the State Government to implement a massive project combining all the textile towns of this region to find a permanent solution through public private partnership. "They have asked us to evince the interest of the parties concerned. All are willing to have the scheme as it is the only viable solution,'' they said.

Brandix Lanka to set up $300 mn apparel park in Vizag

2006-04-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Brandix Lanka Ltd, (BLL) is planning to invest almost US $300 million to build an apparel park in the Vishakapatnam Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Andhra Pradesh (AP).Ashroff Omar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), informed that the planning and designing of the park was completed and the first phase construction is expected to begin this June.Omar also said that the company was in talks with several Indian textile players urging them to set up their units in the park.The first phase of this 1000 acre park is scheduled to be operational by the end of the fiscal year.When fully operational, the park will provide jobs for over 60,000 workers.Experts believe that this development will prove to be significant for Indian apparel industry and a beginning of a trend as the leading firms like MAS Holdings and Hirdramani’s are already launching their outlets in the country.Brandix Lanka, a Sri Lankan apparel garments company, is supported by over 20 manufacturing facilities at home and Madagascar with marketing offices in New York, Columbus, and London, and a sourcing office in Bangalore. Brandix Group comprises over 20 manufacturing plants with a combined workforce of 14,500 and an annual turnover of Rs2,500 crore.

Tirupur exporters welcome credit policy

2006-04-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

Tirupur Exporters Association has welcomed the RBI's annual credit policy for 2006-07, saying that the buoyancy in the economy would continue the growth momentum with the status quo measures in the interest rates.
In a statement today, association president A Shaktivel lauded RBI Governor Y V Reddy for keeping bank rates, reverse repo rate, repo rate and cash reserve ratio unchanged.
RBI's endeavour to contain the year-on-year inflation in the range of five to 5.5 per cent would help improve the economy, he said.
However, the association requested to reduce the interest rate for export-based units at prime lending rate.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

2006-04-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

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Product Data Management (PDM) & Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)

2006-04-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

Automation and improvement in the efficiency of information management, pre production and production process.

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Cost Planning Software Solutions

2006-04-18T07:03:00.000-07:00

Scientific and multiple priority driven evaluation of millions to decide on the most cost effective solution.

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Labour Costing Software Solutions

2006-04-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

Allows manufacturers to quickly find out the work content of any sewing preparation and determine labour cost.

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Thread Costing Solutions

2006-04-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

Saves on unnecessary wastages and calculates accurate thread requirement.

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Fabric Costing Solutions

2006-04-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Offers result within minutes to and accuracy of 1 % of the actual final production consumption.

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Realtime Shopfloor Data Collection

2006-04-18T06:59:00.000-07:00

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CAD / CAM Solutions for Fashion Industry

2006-04-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

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Colour Management Solutions for Fashion Industry

2006-04-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

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Digital Printing Solutions for Fashion Industry

2006-04-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

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Web solutions for Fashion design & Forecasting

2006-04-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

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Job Opportunities - Tirupur

2006-04-18T03:21:00.000-07:00

Cethar Industries Ltd
Personnel Manager
Interested candidate with Human Resource Management with 5 - 10 Years Experience
Merchandisers
Graduate with Minimum 5 Years Experience
Contact:
Cethar Industries Ltd
12 A ,Poochakadu 1st Street Karuvampalayam Tirupur Ph : 0421 - 2232445

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Texport Syndicate India Ltd
Sr.Merchandisers
Textile Qualification and 5 Years Experience
Quality Controllers
Textile Qualification with 5 YearsExperience

Contact
Texport Syndicate India Ltd 9,Vinayagapuram 1st Street Rayapuram ExtnTirupur 641601
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Job Opportunities - Tirupur

2006-04-13T00:46:00.000-07:00

Pathi Exports requires
Quality controller - 4 Nos (5 years experience).
Merchandiser - 3 Nos Minimum (5 years experience). Junior Merchandiser - 6 NosAccounts with Tally - 2 Nos (5 years experience).
Contact:
Pathi Exports, 8/379-1,Sri Nagar Colony, Pitchampalayam, Tirupur. 641603. Phone : 0421-4340175.
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Sarju International Limited requires
Marketing Manager (M / F) (5 to 10 years ience) Fluency in english to co-ordinate with buyers and his agents .
Production Manager (5 to 10 years experience). Merchandisers (2 to 3 years experience). Lab-In-charge B.Sc(Chem) (2-3 years experience).
Contact :
Sarju International LimitedThe Manager - H.R.57/1-c & 58/1-1,Karai Pudur,Tirupur. 641605.

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Tech Knit India, requires Merchandiser - 3 Nos(M) (Minimum 3 years experience in this field) Candidates should be dynamic , target oriented , good communication skills, & experience in production software. Q.S.Co-ordinator - 1No(f)
Contact :
Tech Knit IndiaNo.14, LRG Lay-out,3rd Street,ABT Road,Tirupur. 641604.

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Dhivya Clothing Co., requires ,
Senior Merchandiser - 2 Posts (10 Years Experience )
Asst.Merchandiser - (5 Years Experience)
Senior Accountant - 1 Post (5 Years Experience )
Contact
SF No.180 / 1 C.P.S GardensC- Block ,Jai Nagar Kangayam Road Tirupur 641604Ph :

TEA for inclusion of garments under Focus Product Scheme

2006-04-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) has requested the Ministry of Commerce to include garments among the notified products under the ‘Focus Product Scheme’ that was launched recently.This scheme aims to provide incentives to the industries on the basis of their potential to offer employment from the rural areas.A Sakthivel, President, TEA, explained that although garment sector was successfully generating employment for the populace, it has not been included in this policy.Sakthivel also added that the Goverenment should at once raise the drawback rate for the garment sector by three percent so as to make it more competitive in international market.

TIF signs MoU with NSIC

2006-04-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

Tirupur Industrial Federation (TIF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Limited to help small scale entrepreneurs by popularising the schemes of the Corporation.
The TIF president, Ahill M.S. Mani, and the Coimbatore branch manager of NSIC, R. Saravanakumar, signed the MoU. The aim of both the organisations is to help small scale industries. The TIF has recently inaugurated a sub contracting exchange. According to Mr. Mani, entrepreneurs can get application forms at TIF to get assistance from the NSIC as it do not have branch in Tirupur. It will act as a bridge between NSIC and its beneficiaries. The Federation would highlight the schemes of NSIC to its members. Both the organisations would jointly conduct seminars for the welfare of the knitwear industry in Tirupur.
The NSIC is helping small scale industries by extending financial assistance to procure raw materials, offering Government tender forms at concession rate etc.

Labour shortage Tirupur's bane

2006-04-10T05:14:00.000-07:00

Shortage of labour has hit exports of knitwear in Tirupur. At a time when the industry is witnessing a rapid growth with the opening up of the quota-free textiles regime, industry sources feel that shortage of labour has come in the way of growth.
While unemployment problem remains a cause for concern in all other parts of the state, Tirupur witnesses a huge shortage of labour throughout the year. "We face 20 - 30 per cent of shortage of labour. As the exports go up the problem too aggravates. Of the two lakh workers in Tirupur, half of them do not have quality housing. Unless housing facility is established it is difficult to lure workers," says A. Sakthivel, president of the Tirupur Exporters' Association.
Lack of proper housing, poor lifestyle owing to air pollution, absence of infrastructure and inconsistent work scenario as a seasonal business are some of the reasons, entrepreneurs say, for the shortage of labour. Many labourers left Tirupur after working here for a couple of years because of various reasons.
M. Chandran, general secretary of CITU Baniyan Thozhilar Sangam, says most of the workers are on daily wages and what they earn is not enough to make both ends meet. "Even after working 10 - 12 hours a day most of the workers live in debt and they hardly save,'' Chandran says.
Thousands of families live in single bedroom houses (called line houses) that have just 100 square feet space.
The rent of these 10 ft x 10 ft house is around Rs.1,000 a month. "The exorbitant house rent and high cost of living are the twin problems that haunt the workers," he said.
Many entrepreneurs feel that a massive housing scheme for the poor workers is the need of the hour. As the land cost has skyrocketed it is not easy for a labourer to own a house. Chandran said the Government on its own or by helping the industrialists should come forward to construct at least 30,000 low cost houses.
The companies could invest for this and in turn they could collect it from the workers.
Candidates from both rival camps - Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam - have promised that they will work hard to achieve the goal.
A.M. Karthikeyan of Stallion Garments, who plans to construct 400 houses for workers, suggests that capital subsidy or interest incentive be given to the companies to take up housing projects as it was offered already for factory buildings under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme.

Web Based Knitting ERP

2006-04-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

World Fashion Exchange Inc. (WFX), the global Software solutions provider, of Fashion & Apparel industry has entered TIRUPUR market. Incorporated in USA, with offices in Europe, South Asia, an R&D center in India, and over 300 clients worldwide. After establishing a significant global presence WFX is entering Tirupur market.

Recently WFX has launched its flagship product “ WEB BASED KNITTING ERP “ in Tirupur. To sustain in the competitive market the exporters need Real Time Information on the move. WFX WEB BASED KNITTING ERP solution fits this requirement perfectly. Even the Finance module of WFX is 100 % web based and can be integrated with WFX ERP.

WFX takes care of the complete Business Activity Monitoring from Yarn to Dispatch. Since it is 100% web based the exporters get anywhere anytime visibility.

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www.indiaknitfair.com

2006-04-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

India’s biggest exposition on knitted garments. This fair features leading knitwear exporting organizations from all over India. World renowned designers, world-class manufacturers, International Buyers, Business houses and celebrities from the Fashion World will grace the occasion.

The India Knit Fair for Spring/Summer Collection 2007 is brought to you by Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) and Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

The India Knit Fair has emerged as one among the most reputed knitwear trade fairs in the world. The best of the brand leaders/stores/wholesalers, Importers have already identified Tirupur as one of the major sources for the consumers’ requirements

A knitwear fabric village is in sight

2006-04-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Tirupur is proving to be a success story in many new concepts. Knitwear Fabric Village that aims to facilitate processing of yarn to fabric to finished garments in one compound is the latest addition.
A pioneer house
Propelled by Textile Technology Incubator Services (Texteis), a unit of Centwin Group, one of the pioneering export houses, the proposed village is located on a 32-acre site in Veerapandi, a hub of dyeing factories.
"The whole concept is to reduce production time, avoid transportation hassles and improve overall quality. In Tirupur, fabric rolls are being transported from one place to several places for various purposes. It causes production delay and strains in handlings,'' says W.R. Kesavan, project coordinator.
Effluent treatment
As per the plan land will be sold with buildings only for garment making and related activities. It will include a range of activities from yarn depot to knitting, dyeing, bleaching, chest printing, embroidery, stitching and packing. The campus will have an effluent treatment plant and electricity sub-station. The promoters will provide the entire basic infrastructure including roads, streetlights, water supply and storm water drains.
"Our intention is not to sell the land but the concept. We will offer technical support to the new investors. Having a vast land in the prime locality of Tirupur is our main advantage,'' Mr. Kesavan says.
Levelling of land is nearing completion on the site. Road laying work will take place in the next weekThe village will house around 120 plots each 12,000 sq ft. Space will be provided in lieu of future expansion. On the response from the industry, Mr. Kesavan said it was encouraging.

Reference : The Hindu

TIRUPUR ...World's largest Knitting Cluster

2006-04-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

TIRUPUR once a small town in Coimbatore, India, plays a major role in the Global Apparel Market. Tirupur also boasts as the largets knitting cluster in the world. Samples can be made at the shortest span from the design to finish.All the leading brands and chain stores like GUESS, TOMMY, OLD NAVY, DIESEL, WALMART, JC PENNY, source their Knitwear requirements from Tirupur. Inspite of the infrastructure limitations Tirupur is booming because of the enterprising spirit of the locals. The Global Knitwear Industry is incomplete without Tirupur.