Tirupur exporters smile with hand-full of orders after COVID-19 lockdown break

31 December 2020: Dr. A. Sakthivel Chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) said that Indian apparel exports continue the recovery process registering a strong positive growth for the second consecutive month at 6.32% in October 2020. “I am confident we will make up for more than the decline in the first five months of this fiscal. Even in the international arena, the Indian apparel industry is poised for better times as there is a growing discomfort among many nations for their overdependence on China for key supplies. While some countries like Japan are prompting their industries to move out of China, some others have started putting restrictions on Chinese imports. The US’ restrictions on textile imports from Xinjiang in China is likely to prove beneficial to us,” he said in his editorial message in AEPC’s Apparel magazine.

Reportedly, in rupee terms India’s RMG exports in October 2020 increased by 9.94 per cent to Rs.8,648.44 crore against Rs.7,866.45 crore in October 2019. RMG Exports in Rupee terms during April-October, 2020-21 declined by 29.14 per cent to Rs.44,415.86 crore.

Meanwhile, the Tirupur garment exporters witnessed a surge in orders during the October-December quarter with a 15% increase in exports, as informed by said Raja Shanmugham, President of Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA). However, Garment exports from Tirupur dropped to Rs.25,000 crore for the year ended March 2020 from Rs.26,000 crore in the previous year owing to the Covid pandemic. The target was to export garments worth Rs.28,000 crore. Tirupur has exported apparels worth Rs.14,150 crore from April-November 2020, which is just Rs.3,000 crore.