(yarnsandfibers) -- Chennai, known for its Madras Checks the world over, is fast losing its status as a leading woven apparel exporter to its Bangladeshi counterparts. The city, which had about 500 woven units exporting men’s wear about three years ago, has only about 100 such operational units left now.
“With largely subsidised fabrics from Bangladesh flooding the market, south Indian woven fabrics industry is at great peril,” lamented Mr Ranjit P. Shah, president of apparel and handloom exporters association. Around 33 leading exporting units have shut shop in the last few years leading to a loss of 45,000-plus jobs, he added.
“In last two years, Chennai industry has suffered unfair level-playing fields, specially from Bangladesh because of cost escalation in the production that has made our CMT (cut, make and trim) costs uncompetitive,” said Mr Prakash C. Sancheti, vice-president of the association.
India signed a pact in September last to permit duty-free access for 48 apparel products including knitwear from Bangladesh under the South Asian Free Trade Agreement. This zero-duty access to the USD3-billion Indian apparel market will enable the tiny nation to capture a sizeable Indian market owing to its low labour cost and other inherent advantages, lament exporters.
MRC