Apparel industry is going through a challenging phase: MoS Textiles

The Dollar Business Bureau

Minister of State (MoS) for Textiles Ajay Tamta said on Wednesday that India’s apparel industry is going through challenging times and added that the Government has formed a committee to address the concerns and look into the issues raised by the industry.

“Apparel industry is going through a challenging phase and to address the concerns of the Industry, a committee has been formed by the Government to look into the issues raised by the Industry,” the Minister said while inaugurating the 60th edition of India International Garment Fair (IIGF) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Tamta further said the textile package announced by the Government is benefiting the sector, immensely.

In 2016, the Government has announced a Rs.6,000 crore special package for the textile and apparel sector, which aimed to help in creating one crore jobs in 3 years.

“Garment sector is one of the largest employment providers and is helping a large number of people to earn their livelihood,” Tamta said.

In his address, Tamta said, “IIGF is a big platform which brings together the overseas garment buyers and garment exporters with almost half of the Indian states participating in the fair.”

“During the last IIGF, business worth $200 million was conducted and this time I would like to see more buyers participating in the fair,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion HKL Magu, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), said, “I feel happy to note the huge transformation the Fair and the industry has witnessed in these years. The Fair has grown in scale and scope and emerged as the one of the largest and most popular platforms in Asia where overseas garment buyers can source and forge the business relationship with India’s finest in apparel and fashion accessories domain.”

“This time the fair is happening at a time when industry is facing lot of challenges both domestically and globally. These are challenging times for the industry with global headwinds blowing over us. The post GST transformation for the industry has been challenging, but I am sure the industry will show the resilience it has shown in the past, and emerge stronger,” Magu said.

IIGF, a three-day international fair, is being held from January 17-19, 2018 and will witness the participation of over 294 exporters from 11 states including Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. These participants will be showcasing women’s wear, accessories, kid’s wear and menswear. International buyers from over 95 countries like Brazil, Spain, Japan, Uruguay, UK, Hong Kong, US etc have also registered to participate in the fair.