The 59th National Garment Fair by the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) started yesterday, June 23 to 25, at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, NSE Complex, Goregaon East, Mumbai inaugurated by Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of Textiles, Govt. of India.
The Minister was quite upbeat about the market and he was of the opinion that India’s textile exports is set to touch USD 50 billion mark in the current fiscal. He further commented, “With US$ 40 billion in textile exports, the country has moved up to the second position from the fourth position last year, and we are hopeful of achieving US$ 50 billion this year.”
He further adds, “Textiles have tremendous potential, and the government will provide full support to improve our exports. The industry is also expected to generate a large number of employment opportunities. After the agriculture sector, the textiles sector has a huge potential of providing a large number of jobs to the vulnerable section of the society.”
The minister also shared some future plans as he said, “The textile ministry is keen to set up 25-30 textile parks and a couple of mega clusters for the development of the industry.”
Rahul Mehta, President, CMAI and Vice Chairman of International Apparel Foundation shared, “The three-day fair is expected to bring in a business of around Rs 500 crore. This fair will generate many trade inquires, which would culminate into further business in near future. This B2B fair has 697 stalls displaying over 737 brands. Approximately 40,000 retailers from all over India are expected to visit here.”
Mehta highlighted on the industry figures saying that, “The total size of Indian apparel industry is estimated to be around Rs 2,00,000 crore and is likely to double within the next five years. Out of this, un-stitched garments like dhotis and sarees constitute Rs 50,000 crore. The size of the organised retail sector is around Rs 40,000 crore while the remaining Rs 1,10,000 crore is the size of un-organised sector.”
