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that India has to expand its product basket.“ We are confined to Spring / Summer garments when 65 % of the world is focused on Fall / Winter. Government should do something for the lack of technology and raw materials,” he said. The opportunities that are presenting themselves because of China taking a step backward in garment manufacturing are huge, but the full potential can only be realised if India increases its offerings. However, many believe that it is not only about the limited product basket, but also the capacities.“ How can we even think of grabbing orders that are being re-routed from China; we don’ t have the capacities. It is a catch-22 situation, if we don’ t have capacity, we cannot explore opportunities and we do not want to increase capacity because of the uncertainties,” rued Vikram jit Singh, Director, Fiori Creations, Faridabad.
Exporters adding new buyers, capacities
Not everyone is waiting …; many have started to invest believing that the future is bright. Some of the companies are expanding not only their infrastructure but even adding new top brands / buyers with them. To grab more bulk orders is one of the main reasons for their expansion. Among such proactive companies, Texport Syndicate, Mumbai has added 2,000 machines in last three months and now it has 5,500 machines. The expansion was done in its unit at Kodur( Andhra Pradesh). Earlier the company was working with 4 to 5 limited buyers like Walmart, Inditex, C & A and Ralph Lauren but recently it also started working with M & S, GAP and Monoprix. Abhay, GM, Washing Division of the company shared,“ In current scenario, to survive in business it is all about volume orders; it is not time or question of making profit. For profit, we have to wait for future as slowly policy changes seem to be in garment manufacturers’ favour.”
Abhay further added that in denim structure, random bleach and full pigment dyeing are more in demand now in the overseas market. More casual look and different attitude of the garment is the main reason for this trend. In womenswear, lycra is gaining momentum now in overseas as well as in the domestic market.
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Producing 25 lakh metres of fabric per month, Goodwill Fabrics, Bangalore is also producing 3 lakh pieces per month( totally woven, 70 % bottom and 30 % tops) for garment export. Recently company expanded into denimwear which is a new product category for the company. For this, a new unit of 100 stitching machines was recently set up at Gwalior( MP) in the mill premises of the company. This gives an edge of having the entire process under one roof. Moving further, the company is setting up a laundry unit in the same premises also. Suresh Kumar, VP – Marketing of the company informed,“ Garments have more growth opportunities compared to fabric as fabric business seems to be saturated. For us, there is no expansion on the fabric side but the garment is rapidly expanding.”
Through jeans, the company is targeting export as well as domestic market. Domestic is a new segment for the company’ s garment division. Apart from this new unit, the company has 4 garment factories and is exporting garments all over the globe.“ We are expecting at least 20 per cent growth. With the strength of fabric, decades’ of experience, continuous improvement and good control over cost from the beginning, we are able to deliver quality products at the right price …, so we are expanding and growing,” added Suresh. Out of its total fabric capacity, 10 per cent is being used for in-house garment production.
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“ We are confined to Spring / Summer garments when 65 % of the world is focused on Fall / Winter. Government should do something for the lack of technology and raw materials.”
– Animesh Saxena, MD, Neetee Clothing, Gurgaon
“ The new unit in Solapur( Maharashtra) will have an initial capacity of 3,000 pieces daily and Polo tees will be our core product.”
– Nimish Shah of Amber Home, Mumbai
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SME adding new product categories
Market forces are also motivating medium-level exporters to add new product categories. To mention Amber Home, Mumbai, a home furnishing player which two years ago, entered into shirts manufacturing for export, and is now going to start a unit of the knitted garment. This new unit in Solapur( Maharashtra) will have an initial capacity of 3,000 pieces daily and Polo tees will be the core product. Nimish Shah, Partner of the company told,“ Our knitted products are particularly for African countries. We got this buyer through reference and it is our first ever deal with African buyer, but we are hopeful to get regular orders from there.” This project is expected to start production within one month. It has the capacity of home furnishing products( mainly kitchen linen 5,000 pieces per day) and shirts and workwear( 2,000 pieces per day). The company works with some top retailers also.
Jobworkers adding capacities too
Though the majority of exporters are criticising some of the decisions taken by the Government, but some of the policies are motivating garment manufacturers to expand. Based at Haveri( Karnataka), Prabhanjan Industries is currently into shirt manufacturing with its small unit. Mainly doing jobwork for companies like Prateek Apparels, Bangalore,
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