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India is unlikely to meet the apparel exports target of $18 billion for the 2012-13 due to demand slowdown in major markets like the US and Europe, the AEPC said today.
“The target of $18 billion for the 2012-13 fiscal may not be achieved given the current slowdown in the western markets,” A Sakthivel, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) said.
Garment exports may end the fiscal at about $16.5 billion, he added.
During April-August this year, apparel exports were declined by 12.16 per cent to $5.26 billion.
The drop in apparel exports is in line with decline in overall exports which registered a fall of 6.79 per cent to $143.6 billion in April-September period. Exporters are hardly getting orders ahead of Christmas and New Year season, Sakthivel said.
The US and Europe together account for over 65 per cent of the country’s total apparel exports.
In the beginning of the 2012-13, the government had set a target of $17 billion which was later revised to $18 billion, following announcements in the annual supplement of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).
During 2011-12, apparel exports grew about 18 per cent year-on-year to about $14 billion.
To reduce dependence on western markets, exporters are marketing their products by participating in trade exhibitions and holding road shows in new markets like Latin America, Japan, Israel, Russia and South Africa.
The AEPC also said rising cost of raw material and fuel is hurting growth of the exports.
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