The Hindu Business Line : Think global, garment manufacturers told

THE ready-made garment manufacturers need to develop a global perspective to profit from the potential that would emerge with the setting in of the WTO regime in a few months from now, the Deputy Director of the Textile Committee, Madurai, Mr R. Ramanathan, has said.

Delivering the inaugural address at the `Design workshop for readymade garments and textile made-ups' here, Mr Ramanathan said that despite the presence of more than 600 ready-made garment units in and around Madurai, a global popularity has not been gained like Tirupur and Karur.

This was mainly because the manufacturers lacked self-belief and refused to think beyond the local market, satisfying themselves with loading the garments to Karnataka and Kerala, he added.

With the WTO regime in place by January next, a great opportunity awaited them and they should make full use, as India along with China would be the only two countries to compete between themselves to grab the opportunity. The manufacturers need to become aware of the design along with cost and quality with timely delivery, to seize and establish themselves in the global market.

At present, while China supplied 15 per cent of the American requirements, India's participation is at 3 per cent. There is a need to upgrade the technology and the structure in the industry, to play the role of a bulk supplier in the global arena.

A cluster approach will enable them to realise the benefits through promotion of global brands.

To bring about an awareness among the manufacturers in the region, a team from NIFT visited the region a few days ago and as a follow-up, the workshop is on, he said.

Earlier, the Maditssia President, Mr S. Aravind, said that India has been exporting yarn to China, allowing that country to take advantage of the global market. The low level of technology among the garment manufactures has been depriving the country of its share, as producers of quality fabric.

While the share of a superior technology like shuttle-less looms is around 30 per cent at the global level, the adoption in India is only around three per cent. Garment manufacturers have been presented with a great opportunity in the realm of made-ups market such as home furnishings, bed sheets, bath towels etc.

Export of cotton made-ups has been growing at annual rate of 13.5 per cent between 1997-2003 as against the cotton apparels at 9 per cent. To gain supremacy in quality fabric, the weaving and processing sectors also do need to wake up to the reality, he emphasised.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (Maditssia), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Chennai, the Textile Committee (Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India) and the Tamil Nadu Readymade Garments Manufacturers Association, Madurai.

More Stories on : Readymade Garments | Tamil Nadu | WTO

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