The Hindu Business Line : NITMA plans widening activities into clothing

WITH less than nine months to go before the apparel quotas are eliminated, the winds of change are beginning to blow over the Northern India Textile Mills' Association (NITMA).

To make the most of the opportunities that would be thrown open by the dismantling of quotas from early 2005, the association may "officially enlarge its activities into clothing" in the coming days.

Dr H.B. Chaturvedi, newly elected President of NITMA, told Business Line: "To have an overall growth, the textiles and apparel sectors have to come together. The growth will be apparel-led. Both are now seeing each other as rivals. My effort would be to bring textiles and clothing into one forum so that there can be a constructive view of the entire textile and clothing sectors."

Dr Chaturvedi, who is also Chairman of the Shamken group, said that during his two-year term NITMA would strive to upgrade the operational and financial performance of mills in the northern region.

"Instead of focusing our energies on sending memorandums to the Government, we will shift our focus and look inwards to get our house in order."

He added: "There would be activities that would lead to cost reductions, productivity and quality improvement and an increase in yield per hectare of cotton."

Further, labour law reforms would be a thrust area for the association in the coming months. "Unless reforms are carried out in labour laws, garment industries will not flourish."

On the issue of excessive weightage given to cotton by the association, Dr Chaturvedi admitted that its focus has been on cotton. "We have to give due weightage to synthetics definitely. We have no reservation on synthetics. We must make what the customer wants." The association would also continue to approach the Government to encourage the installation of processing houses in the country.At the annual general meeting of NITMA, the members also elected Mr Ashish Bagrodia, Joint Managing Director of Winsome Textile Industries, as Vice-President for two years.

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