Apparel Online India Magazine August 1st Issue 2018 | Page 41

INDUSTRY LIVE
Punjab Apparel & Textiles Conclave: MoUs
signed for Rs. 230 crore
A sense of satisfaction prevailed
in Punjab’s textile and apparel
manufacturing industry today
as after a long gap the State
Government, various industry
agencies and players came together
on a single platform. The occasion
was the Apparel & Textiles
Conclave, supported by the Punjab
Government and Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII), at Ludhiana.
Almost all big shots as well as a
majority of SMEs of the state’s
textile and apparel industry
were present in the conclave and
highlighted their concerns also.
During the day-long event, MoUs
worth Rs. 230 crore were signed
for investment in the textile
sector. Industry and Commerce
Minister of Punjab, Sundar
Sham Arora also announced
that Northern Indian Institute of
Fashion Technology (NIIFT) would
be upgraded as a University of
Fashion.
Rajinder Gupta, Chairman,
Trident Group; Rajiv Garg,
President, NITMA; DL Sharma,
MD, Vardhman Textiles; Ajit
Lakra, President, Ludhiana
Knitters Association, and many
more industry stalwarts shared
the ideas and issues regarding
Industry representatives participating in the Punjab Apparel & Textiles Conclave
the growth of the industry. The
event was organised to chalk out
an effective action plan for the
systematic growth of the textile and
clothing industry in the region.
Industry representatives raised
many long pending issues and
most important was the promise of
electricity supply at the rate of Rs. 5
per unit (the promise was made
by the Congress party during the
state election but has still not been
implemented even after one year).
The minister and officials assured
the industry of necessary steps
DL Sharma, MD, Vardhman Textiles addressing the
Industry representatives
for the same. Industry stalwarts
were further of the opinion that
Punjab with its strong base in
textiles, from farm to fashion,
can help create opportunities for
employment generation, inward
investment, exports, building of
global brands and identifying gaps
in the value chain besides exploring
new potential areas such as
technical textiles.
The takeaway of the conclave
would be used for fashioning an
appropriate strategy and a way
forward in terms of policy provision
by the Government. Prashant
Agarwal, JMD, Wazir Advisors
discussed an overview of the state
textile scenario and put forward
suggestions on how the state can
grow further. A report was also
released on the same. There were
various sessions in the conclave
like ‘Creating Eco System for
Making Punjab’s Textile Industry
Competitive’; Brand Building &
Multichannel Approach to Retail;
‘Making Punjab Ready for Technical
Textile’ among other topics which
were highly appreciated.
TEA asks to hike price by 10%; will buyers support?
The Tirupur Exporters’
Association (TEA) has asked
knitwear manufacturers to ask
their buyers to increase their
garment export prices by 10 per
cent. This decision was taken in
a meeting held in Tirupur which
marked presence of TEA’s
executive committee members.
The price rise is expected to
fight the inflation in the apparel
industry. It’s worth noting here
that, according to TEA, GST
implementation in 2017 has
made cotton yarn, accessories
and job work costlier. Cotton
prices have surged by Rs. 17-18
per kg since July last year and the
prices are still on upswing.
Further, the cost of jobwork
service such as fabric dyeing
has also increased by around 20
per cent due to escalation in dye
cost. This upsurge in cost has
made the situation even tougher
for the manufacturers and they
have been demanding from the
Government to regulate the prices
for quite some time now in order
to avoid the severe tussle. “With
such situation, the continuation
of same prices for finished
garments would certainly lead to
a di fficult situation to sustain in
the business. So, our executive
committee unanimously decided
to ask the knitwear units to send
communication to their buyers
to increase garment prices by
10 per cent while finalising new
orders,” commented Raja M
Shanmugham, President, TEA.
However, Raja is unsure
whether knitwear
manufacturers would agree to
increase their product prices
simply after TEA’s suggestion.
“It was the first time that the
association took such a decision
because of the ‘abnormal’
market situation prevailing now.
The decision will enlighten the
companies to take a collective
effort to persuade foreign
buyers to provide reasonable
prices,” added Raja.
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