Today, Tuesday (January 14) in a report, the news agency Reuters reported this. Due to political instability in Bangladesh, garment importers are looking for alternative exporters, including India. Meanwhile, India has also started preparing in this regard.
Citing Indian government sources, Reuters reported that they are working to boost the textile and garment industry in the next budget. They plan to reduce duties on key inputs of the garment industry by increasing financial support and providing two incentives for local production.
The Reuters report also said that due to the ongoing political crisis in neighboring Bangladesh, retailers around the world have started looking for alternative countries, including India, for importing garments.
Mithileshwar Thakur, Secretary General of the Garment Export Promotion Council of India, said, “The United States is looking for alternatives for garment imports. India is also among them. Meanwhile, India has been struggling to get export orders for the last few months.
A source said that about 45 million people work in India’s textile sector. The country is considering a 10-15 percent increase in its budget for the textiles ministry for the next fiscal year. The ministry is currently considering an allocation of Rs 44.17 billion ($511 million).
The source also said that the government may increase the allocation for production-linked incentives for the textile sector from Tk 450 million to about Tk 60 million for the current fiscal year. Under this scheme, the government will provide tax incentives and other concessions to companies manufacturing locally.
India is also reportedly considering reducing duties on textile machinery from the country as well as raw materials such as polyester and viscose staple fibers.
Meanwhile, India’s textile and apparel exports grew by more than 7 percent to $23 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year until November. While total merchandise exports grew by only 2 percent.
Mithileshwar Thakur, secretary general of the Apparel Export Promotion Council of India, said that ready-made garment exports increased by more than 11 percent compared to the same period last year to reach about $10 billion and are expected to cross $16 billion by the end of March.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s garment exports to the United States have declined relatively due to political unrest. According to data from the US Textile and Apparel Office, Bangladesh’s exports to the United States fell by 0.4 percent to $6.7 billion from January to November last year. On the other hand, India’s exports increased by 4.25 percent to $4.4 billion.
Shahidullah Azim, a factory owner in Bangladesh, told Reuters, “Most of my buyers are from North America and European countries. But due to the ongoing crisis in Bangladesh, some American buyers have turned to other countries including India, Vietnam and others.”
