08 April 2022, Mumbai:
TIRUPPUR EXPORTERS POST RECORD EXPORTS, BUT THE QUANTUM STILL REMAINS THE SAME.
Tirupur Exporters Association – popularly known as TEA – was established in the year 1990. This is an Association exclusively for exporters of cotton knitwear who have production facilities in Tirupur. From the modest beginning, TEA has grown into a strong body of knitwear exporters.
Today, TEA has a membership of 1076 Life members and 155 Associate Members. The members of the Association, from the beginning, have resolved to develop their organization by focusing on Multilateral growth of the knitwear industry and exports Development of infrastructural needs for Tirupur.
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Despite being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the knitwear hub of Tiruppur has clocked exports worth Rs 33,525 crore in the 2021-2022 fiscal accounting for 54.2 per cent of the country’s total exports in the sector, an all-time high.
But the development has not enthused the exporters in Tiruppur as the jump is only on the revenue side due to an increase in the prices of raw materials that had an effect on the final price of the merchandise and not in terms of the quantum of goods.
The multi-crore industry had been registering an increase in exports but slumped for a couple of years due to 2016’s demonetization exercise and the introduction of GST in 2017.
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However, the industry showed signs of recovery in 2018 and 2019 until Covid-19 hit the world in 2020 – from Rs 27,280 crore in 2019-20, the export figures fell to Rs 24,750 crore in 2020-21.
Despite the slump in numbers, Tiruppur’s share in overall knitwear exports from India has been on the rise – from 42.9 per cent in 2016-17, it has gone up to 54.2 percent in 2021-22.
Though a jump of around Rs 10,000 crore -- from Rs 24,750 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 33,525 crore in 2021-22 – in just about a year is significant, exporters say a non-increase in the quantum would spell doom for the industry as it would mean that the knitwear hub is losing out to countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh who have free access to key markets like the EU.
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However, exporters said there is also a silver lining with the domestic sales increase in the past few years with many firms adopting the hypermarket concept which has led to more demand for garments.
“From just 8,500 crores before the introduction of GST, the domestic business is now worth over Rs 30,000 crore a year,” Ganeshan added.
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CREDITS: TEA (The news article has not been edited by DFU Publications staff).
