'Bra wars' with China boost Indian textiles

Not everyone has suffered from EU quota on Chinese imports. James Hall reports in The Sunday Telegraph that Indian manufacturers have received a massive boost in orders as European and US textile and clothing retailers switch from Chinese producers in the wake of the "Bra Wars" fiasco:

Indian manufacturers have enjoyed a boom in orders thanks to the European Union's decision to re-impose quotas on Chinese goods, which has backfired spectacularly. ...A poll by The Sunday Telegraph of clothing manufacturers in Tirupur, India's textile hub, found that sales had risen by between 10 and 25 per cent over the past three months.

"Orders are pouring in. We are also receiving a lot of inquiries from companies across the world who are trying to shift their base to India," said Senthilkumar Kg, the marketing director of Chitra International, an Indian textile manufacturer.

There is also interest from Asian groups as well:

Factory owners and lawyers in India are also reporting a huge surge in interest from Asian-based sourcing groups - brokers that act between retailers and manufacturers - which plan to transfer their entire operations to India to take advantage of the lack of import quotas on goods made there.

This is just the kind of diversification I wrote about in my previous post. In a related story, Europe's Indian shopping spree, Hall gives a fascinating account of Tirapur:

The government of Tamil Nadu and the merchants of Tirupur have been working hard to turn the town into a global textile hub - and they have largely succeeded. The town is like a shopping mall for international retailers.

Executives from Wal-Mart, Marks & Spencer, C&A or almost any other large clothing retailer can regularly be seen wandering among the palm trees and dusty roads as they check out local facilities. Manufacturers - who boast that they can turn around customised samples in 12 hours - say buyers from more than 35 countries visit the town every month.

Tirupur has 10 hotels (many of which have conference centres and swimming pools) and an 18-hole golf course to accommodate its visitors. The local government recently opened the Netaji Apparel Park, a 220-acre, 65-unit complex of factories, to aid the growth of the booming sector.

The town has an entrenched textile culture. The first hosiery factory opened in 1935, producing vests with hand-operated machines. In the 1960s the industry diversified into other types of clothing, and exports started to take off a decade later.

Let's just hope the European Union doesn't try to impose quotas on India next.

Comments

[Anju Patel]

Really Informative! Thanks for publishing this.If Indian textile is facing any threat then its none other than China.China is real competetor of India.
My whole family is also related to Surat Textile Business. I am also doing a course in textile designing to help my fathers business.
Textile is one of the businesses of India which provides large number of emplyement.
Surat Textile has made great contribution is development of Surat.

Anju

[Hitesh]

The real power behind Surat Textile is its work force. Most of the workers of Surat Textile are from Bihar, Jharkhand, UP and Orrisa.
The scene can be seen at railway station of Surat when there is festival in those states. Textile Workers of Surat go to their native place to attend their relatives.Real Crisis I saw in textile market in 2006 when there was flood.