Fall in textile and apparel exports, Irani informs LS

Explaining the reasons behind the fall of exports to the Lok Sabha, the minister said that the industry took time to adjust to the Goods and Services Tax regime. Further, she said the downward revision of export incentives, and a credit squeeze faced by small and medium scale enterprises, has also pushed production downwards.

New Delhi:India's textile and apparel exports have declined from USD 38.60 billion in 2014 to USD 37.12 billion in 2018, while imports have increased from USD 5.85 billion to USD 7.31, said Textile Minister Smriti Zubin Irani.

Explaining the reasons behind the fall of exports to the Lok Sabha, the minister said that the industry took time to adjust to the Goods and Services Tax regime. Further, she said the downward revision of export incentives, and a credit squeeze faced by small and medium scale enterprises, has also pushed production downwards.

Estimated at USD 16.2 billion in FY19, India’s apparel exports fell by 1.2 per cent from FY18, which in turn was 4 per cent lower than the previous year. Even the share of apparel exports in the country’s total textile exports has fallen sharply from 51 per cent in FY17 to 45 per cent in FY19.

Similarly, the share of apparel exports in the country’s total textile exports has fallen sharply from 51 per cent in FY17 to 45 per cent in FY19.

Industry experts attribute the fall to the ever-tightening pressure on the exports markets by higher shipments from low-cost competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Also replying to the question whether the government is aware that the industry needs immediate relief in the form of a minimum two per cent on the Merchandise Export from India Scheme on cotton yarn and a RoSL package for fabric and cotton yarn to retain competitiveness in the global market, Irani said it is not required at present.

As per the DGCIS data, export of textile and apparel has been increasing by around 2 per cent CAGR in the last three years i.e. from 2016-17 to 2018-19. As per the data of Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, export of textile and apparel has increased by 2.3 per cent year on year from USD 35.7 billion in 2017-18 to USD 3606 billion in 2018-19.