Apparel August 2019 Apparel August 2019 issue | Page 46

69TH NGF SPECIAL
LEADING THE DISCOURSE AROUND
UNION BUDGET 2019–2020
The Union Budget 2019–2020, announced by Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman,
has been eliciting a hodgepodge of commentaries and opinions countrywide. To lend this more
relevance, Mili Doshi spoke to Manufacturers on the Fair ground to gauge how the recent
Budgetary allocations have played out in the Garment Industry, juxtaposing this against the
current downward trend in market demand and the measures that can be taken to bring it
back into full operation.
Textile businesses across the country have
slowed down, and the newly announced
Budget has only added to the woes of
those in the Industry. From what I know,
transactions of most medium-scale
businesses have come down by 50 per
cent in the last few years. Even with
festive seasons such as Diwali nearing,
the response by Retailers remains sparse
as of now. Currently, we are paying an
interest rate of 12 per cent on some
garment-related accessories. If this is
brought down to five per cent for those
particular products, the production rate—
and subsequently, selling rate—would be
reduced to quite an extent, hence resulting
in higher demand.
MAHADEV PATEL, EXTERRITO
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I APPAREL I
August 2019
The overall Apparel market
demand has been witnessing
a downward trend since the
past four to six months, and
the Goods and Services
Tax (GST) is one of the
contributing factors of the
same. But I do not think that the recent Budgetary
declaration will affect the market negatively. If the
current technological innovations are anything to
go by, we are only moving forward. For instance,
we now have online marketplaces, increased
technological advancements, computerised
billings, the shop-in-shop (SIS) concept, and many
more such innovations that will only push the
industry towards growth and prosperity.
KAPIL GOYAL, RAISIN