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Anna Peter

Mumbai , Sept. 2

DEALS worth Rs 250-300 crore were sealed at the just concluded National Garment Fair in Mumbai. According to the organisers of the fair, these also include orders from overseas buyers.

There were 225 exhibitors this year as against 175 last year.

The numbers of visitors also jumped to 15,000 from 12,000. Interestingly, 50-60 buyers from the West Asia also visited the fair.

According to Mr Rahul Mehta, Chairman of the National Garment Fair Subcommittee and ex-President of CMAI, last year a number of changes were introduced in the organisation of the fair, leading to its success. This led to a greater turnout this year.

For textile players, the fair is a single sourcing destination that encourages time and cost efficiencies in the supply chain. The fair was organised by the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI).

He added that big brand names and companies, which had so far targeted the metros, had realised that the fair was an avenue to explore smaller, but equally lucrative, markets. He said one MNC brand had received a large number of business inquiries and it was considering extending retailing activity to semi-urban/semi-rural areas.

Mr Mehta said that players such as Arvind Mills and Killer were planning to substantially raise stall space next year. He added that what the city needed was a large exhibition centre with modern facilities such as conference rooms and ramp areas for fashion shows.

Post 2005, while import duties would be phased out, the country needed to watch out for dumping threats, especially when India's market opens up in 2005. There were instances, he said, of clothing imported for `charitable purposes' being sold on pavement stalls in the metros. Since there was no duty levied on them, they were sold cheap. This resulted in unfair competition.

As far as threats go, China, Indonesia and Thailand presented a challenge, considering the emphasis their respective governments place on increasing export activities. However, Indian players needed to take advantage of their ability to do small orders, which is not China's forte because of its huge value-added capacities.

Another area that the Government had to act on, Mr Mehta said, was on labour reforms.

He said that considering the seasonal nature of a number of textile activities, there needed to be appropriate changes in recruitment, retrenchment and contract laws.

As for how CMAI was helping members approach a barrier-less 2005, members were being encouraged to rethink business strategies or target niche markets. It was emphasising the importance of increasing value addition in products.

He said the retail industry was gearing itself for 2005 by increasing retail space and predicted a massive expansion in this segment in the next 5 years.

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