With Bangladesh and Vietnam giving a tough competition to India, Christmas may not be as merry for apparel exporters as last year. According to industry players, exports have been dwindling by 8-10 per cent, as against an anticipation of 20 per cent growth.
"We were anticipating a steady growth of 20 per cent, especially during Christmas, in apparel exports. However, the scenario has been worsening since sometime resulting in a further decline of 8-10 per cent in apparel exports instead," said Rahul Mehta, president of Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI).
While the scenario has been worsening since June, the industry was anticipating a revival during November-December in the wake of Christmas festive demand from abroad. However, exports are declining almost by a billion dollar this month.
In the month of June itself, India's garment exports declined from $ 1.2 billion for June last year to $ 1.1 billion this year. Annually, India's garment exports are estimated at around $ 14 billion.
"There are two factors that have played against strong export growth anticipations during Christmas, namely decrease in manufacturing competitiveness and tough economic times
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