Apparel Online India Magazine January 1st Issue 2019 | Page 12

MIND TREE
ROUNDUP
2018
MIND TREE SELECT
I N D U S T R Y R E A C T S T O H OT T O P I C S I N D E B AT E
Q: How do you see Government’s stand and
support over this turbulent year… Is restoring
duty drawback (DBK) rates the only solution?
January 16-31
Ganesh Babu M., MD, Sudarsan Clothing, Tirupur – It is imperative that
the Government restores the old duty drawback (DBK) system in order to
revive the apparel export sector. Half of the suppliers do not pay their GST
in time, while the other half do not receive bills on time. Removing the
DBK system before signing of the FTA is an abuse of exports resulting from
overestimation of FDI.
Q: Recently, Ministry of Textiles has
announced a Scheme for Capacity Building in
Textiles Sector (SCBTS) for skill development
of Rs. 1300 crore. Your take…
Q: Prices in China are increasing… India is
importing big chunk of trims/accessories from
China, have you noticed any impact…?
March 1-15
HKL Magu, Chairman, AEPC, Gurgaon – Yes, overall costing in China
is increasing due to increase in wages; but as far as increase in the price
of trims is concerned, there is no impact. Our company uses 70 per
cent of imported trims and does not buy only from India, but also from
Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc...
Q: How supportive are buyers in today’s
challenging time, considering that they too are
facing many market pressures?
March 16-31
February 1-15
KK Thomas, Director, Avid Apparels, Noida – Skill development is
required for the industry. But need of the hour is to keep the industry
running and for which price is the most important factor. If India is
not competitive enough in the international market in terms of prices,
buyers will go to other countries. This will lead to decline in exports,
unemployment and closing down of many export industries.
Q: January witnessed some important trade shows, like
IIGF, Delhi; Heimtextil, Germany; Hong Kong Fashion
Week; GTE, Delhi to mention some. Can we say that
‘positivity’ is coming back to the industry at least for
this year?
February 16-28
Pradeep Nahata, MD, Karni Exports, Jaipur – We recently participated
in the IIGF fair and were very disappointed as it was a routine fair. Changes
may come as situation will be clearer after June and July. Europe which was
low from many years has finally picked up buyers. China is picking up well
as medium-level buyers are sourcing from there. In prints, ‘80s and ‘90s are
gaining popularity, and this is our strength too.
12 Apparel Online India | JANUARY 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com
Siva Sankar, MD, Exel Sourcing Company, Tirupur – Few buyers and
brands do support us by means of offering sourcing solutions and some of
the welfare initiatives. But still the challenges we face are quite extensive…,
particularly in this post-GST era. But if we look from their perspective, they
compare Indian suppliers with other GSP countries’ suppliers and are trying
to get the prices agreed upon which is really difficult.
Q: With fashion becoming season-less, some
Indian exporters are now manufacturing for the
international market round the year. What are
you doing to get business round the year?
April 1-15
Raja M Shanmugham, President, Tirupur Exporters’ Association, Tirupur
– It is not easy to have 12 months business, especially in the current difficult
scenario. All stakeholders should have continuous dialogue with policy
makers, identify the gap hub-wise and fill the same. Hub-specific research
and support can also be formalised through these dialogues. Infrastructure
improvement should be our top priority as it’s all about timely delivery and a
developed infrastructure. Our ministers should push for FTAs also.