The Hindu Business Line : Share of readymades up in rural clothing

FROM Rs 3,355 crore in 1987-88, it grew to Rs 6,585 crore in 1993-94, and then shot up to Rs 14,743 crore in 1999-2000. At this rate, the total rural demand for clothing today would well be in excess of Rs 20,000 crore.

From the marketing point of view, there has simultaneously been a large shift from necessity-driven to taste-driven demand. In 1987-88, 57 per cent of the total demand was for saris. This had come down to 38 per cent by 1999-2000. There was only a small increase in rural demand for cloth, as shown in the accompanying table. But the increase in the share of readymades, from 19 to 25 per cent, was substantial.

The 11-percentage-point increase in the share of hosiery items, from six to 17 per cent, can be considered dramatic. These figures suggest that the Rs 3,700-crore increase in the demand for saris was to a large extent because of a discretionary shift towards high value saris. This inference is supported by the fact that the length of saris purchased per capita per month actually fell from 0.25 metres to 0.20 metres between 1987-88 and 1999-2000, despite the 22.4 per cent increase in the number of rural women during the period. Thus, data on saris as well as on other items of clothing suggest that there could be large returns on investment in promoting sales in line with the increasing levels of rural `lifestyle' aspirations.

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