Growing furniture imports from China threaten domestic industry: ASSOCHAM

The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz

India’s furniture imports are growing at around 27% annually

  Furniture imports from China threaten around 25 lakh jobs in an estimated 10.61 lakh registered and unorganized furniture factories spread across India, according to D.S. Rawat, Secretary General of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). An ASSOCHAM study says that India’s furniture exports are growing at around 18% annually thanks to growing demand in India’s major export destinations such as Australia, France, Germany, UK and USA. Growing real estate sector in Saudi Arabia is also helping India’s furniture exports grow. However, India’s furniture imports are surging at the rate of around 27% annually, with China accounting for around $447 million or about 60% of India’s total furniture imports worth around $736 million. ASSOCHAM says that India’s furniture imports are growing mainly because of lack of modernization and innovative design, dearth of skilled labour, limited market access and lack of quality control in the domestic furniture industry. These are also the reasons behind non-operation of furniture factories in India. Around 262 or 19% of the total 1,419 registered furniture factories in India were non-operational as of 2011-12, says ASSOCHAM. Revival in real estate and hospitality sectors in India is expected to help push the furniture industry’s growth above the current 17% (CAGR). The sector can also generate about five lakh additional jobs in the next three years provided the concerns of the industry are addressed, says ASSOCHAM.