The textile and apparel sector seems to have seen a revival, going by export performance in October this year. Apparel exports grew 54% in rupee terms in October compared with the same month last year; in dollar terms it was 36% for the same period.
Total textile and apparel exports grew 38% in rupee terms and 22% in dollar terms for the same period. An industry source, who did not want to be named, said one big reason for this was that last year exports had dropped due to the impact of GST introduction. Rupee depreciation also seems to have encouraged exports now. According to Sanjay K. Jain, chairman of Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, the IIP data for textiles and clothing saw a year-on-year growth during September this year from a year earlier. Manufacture of textiles grew 5.4% this September year-on-year and manufacturing of wearing apparel saw a 20.9% growth for the same period. “The growing, positive trend shows visible signs of recovery after a difficult period.” he said.
Chandrima Chatterjee, adviser to the Apparel Export Promotion Council, said market sentiment was good and that demand had picked up in the U.S. and the European Union.
