Apparel Online India Magazine March 1st Issue 2019 | Page 55

INDIA’S PREMIER SOURCING SHOW
Mohit Batra, Country Head of Bangladesh Liaison Office, Reliance Trends
reduced margin and growing competition, majority of
them are managing their survival. The unorganised sector
is majorly dependent on traders like us.”
Driving Opportunities
Foreseeing the astounding growth oppportunities, some
Indian retailers are aggressively working in this direction.
Currently, nearly 15-20 per cent of their total sourcing is
from Bangladesh and they are geared up to increase it as
they are happy with the quality and timely delivery.
Reliance Trends, the leading lifestyle retail chain
with over 509 retail stores across India, has its own
Bangladesh office and sources almost 3 million units per
annum this year. “There are three reasons for going to
Bangladesh. It is a low-cost manufacturing destination.
Secondly, it’s a scalable production capacity nation.
And thirdly, it’s easy to import fabrics; we are using the
Chinese supply chain in Bangladesh to bring the goods to
India. We procure lots of yarn-dyed shirts from China via
Bangladesh as the country is still very competitive in this
category. The advantage here is that you get differentiated
fabric, and of course, there is a cost benefit compared to
other Asian countries,” elaborates Rajesh Lalla, Senior
Vice President, Reliance Retail.
Mohit Batra, Country Head Bangladesh, Reliance
Retail, shares that the company is offering huge
quantities and looking for manufacturers that can offer 20
per cent of their capacity with over 600 machines. “With
only 15 per cent of current sourcing – mainly in shirts,
bottoms and fashion knits – coming from Bangladesh,
the scope for expanding the product basket is immense,”
he highlights.
Other giants of the Indian apparel/retail industry are also
sourcing directly from Bangladesh and bottoms are the
favourites of many of them like Arvind Ltd., Being Human
and many more. “We are sourcing 95 per cent of our
products directly. From which countries we buy depends
Omar Chowdhury, MD, Hydroxide Knitwear
SANDEEP
H GOLAM,
DIRECTOR –
OPERATIONS,
ARMANA
GROUP
“Leading
Indian retailers
and brands
understand
well that apart
from the cost-
effectiveness
and international
flavour being
added to their
offering by
Bangladeshi
products, the
scalability of
Bangladesh is
unmatched.”
FARUQUE
HASSAN, MD,
GIANT GROUP
“No one can
ignore the
potential of the
retail market in
India, it is a huge
market that is still
unexplored and
with Tier-2 and 3
now joining the
retail landscape,
the size of the
market is mind-
blowing.”
upon the product. For bottoms, light wash bottoms, denims,
we go to Bangladesh,” shares Chaitra  Ramamurthy, Sr.
Manager Sourcing, Arvind Brands Ltd.
Kunal Mehta, VP – Business Development &
Marketing, Being Human, is also satisfied with the
Bangladeshi bottoms and treats Bangladesh as a major
focus for that particular product category. He avers,
“About 15 per cent of Being Human’s total purchase comes
from China and Bangladesh, mostly jackets and denim.
Bangladesh is known for quality, pricing and delivery
time. We get good denims from Bangladesh, and it has
been our prime vendor for this category.” Being Human
has also made its presence felt in 15 countries, 500 store-
in-stores and 75 exclusive outlets, which offer clothing
and accessories for men and women.
“Internationally, Bangladesh is the choice for sourcing
basics in large quantities, and as we grow, we are
exploring new opportunities. Hence, we are looking
for more prospects in Bangladesh, while also trying to
maintain the cost advantage within the Indian market as
well,” said Sharad Venkta, MD, Toonz.
Not only the Indian brand or retailers, even well-
established international brands having a huge presence
in India, are also increasing their sourcing from
Bangladesh. And more stuff is coming from Bangladesh.
“Our sourcing base is shifting from India to Bangladesh
just for one reason – better quality and better prices. It
is cheaper as there are no import duties. This shift is not
a bad news for our country as it is happening due to the
fact that India is shifting towards a more retail-oriented
market and will be at par with countries like China as
the biggest retail hub in a few years’ time,” informs
Anshu Grover Bhogra, Head of Buying & Planning,
Mothercare. Completing 10 years of retailing in India,
Mothercare has 80 per cent presence in the metro cities
and is striving to expand business avenues through its
existing stores in cities like Kanpur, Indore, Surat as well
as new openings in the Tier-3 segment.
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