The Hindu Business Line : Textiles export set to touch $15 b this fiscal

Encouraging trends
In rupee terms, textiles export grew by 22 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal.
Silk exports grew by 10.38 per cent.

New Delhi , April 3

The country's textiles and clothing exports are set to touch $15 billion this fiscal, after fetching $13.04 billion last fiscal, with encouraging trends in the post-quota regime governing global trade in textiles and clothing, particularly from the US and the 25-member EU, the two main markets for India.

Preliminary estimates made by the Ministry of Textiles based on the provisional data of the Directorate-General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S) reveal that the country's textile export basket composed of fibres, yarns, fabrics, made-ups, garments, handicrafts including carpets, handloom and jute fetched $12,326.66 million during the first nine months of fiscal 2005-06, against $9873.37 million in the corresponding months of the 2004-05 fiscal.

In rupee terms, textile exports amounted to Rs 54,521.44 crore during the first nine months of the current fiscal, against Rs 44,765.18 crore in the corresponding months of 2004-05, showing a growth close to 22 per cent. Sources in the Textile Ministry said that as per DGCI&S data, the country's textiles and clothing exports during April-November 2005 amounted to $9.3 billion, logging a growth of 8.2 per cent over the corresponding period of 2004.

But the latest data now made available for textile chapters 50 to 63 by the DGCI&S reveal that the country's textile exports have amounted to $12.33 billion during the period April-December 2005, that is 24.85 per cent higher than the exports during the corresponding period of 2004.

They said that a scrutiny of post-quota (since January 1, 2005) trends has shown an appreciable spurt of exports to the US and the European Union (EU) which together account for 65 per cent of the country's textile exports. They said that exports to the US has grown by 26 per cent (January-December 2005), while exports to EU has increased by 20 per cent during January to September, 2005, the latest month available.

They said DGCI&S figures had reflected negative growth in textile exports during the initial months of post-quota period because there were some problems in classification of export data following the change in the pattern from export general manifest (EGM) to let export order which was two steps ahead of the actual shipment.

EGM classification

Now that the DGCI&S has reverted to EGM classification, the returns would reflect the real picture after shipment of the export consignment.

At the disaggregated level within the textile segment, wool, carpet, cotton, articles of apparel and clothing accessories and articles of apparel not knitted put up an impressive show, pulling the overall export of textiles and clothing from the country to a higher level, against the relatively supine show during the last two years when textile exports logged a growth of 8.7 per cent in 2003-04 and negative growth of 3.4 per cent in 2004-05.

Silk exports during the first three quarters of the current fiscal amounted $291.56 million, against $264.15 million in the corresponding period of 2004-05, showing a growth of 10.38 per cent.

While wool exports during April-December 2005 fetched $59.20 million ($48.13 million) marking a growth of 23 per cent, exports of carpets earned $788.41 million ($586.86 million), logging a growth of 33 per cent.

Exports of man-made filament yarn registered a negative growth of 6.26 per cent at $668.58 million ($713.25 million), while that of man-made staple fibre clocked a modest 2.75 per cent growth at $571.45 million ($556.16 million).

Cotton exports registered a robust 19 per cent growth at $1924.95 million during the period under review, against $1621.28 million during April-December 2004.

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