Domestic garment makers hope for better days with curb on imports
With India restricting import of readymade garments from Bangladesh through land ports, domestic garment manufacturers hope to see revival in orders. In a notification issued on May 17, the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said readymade garments can be imported from Bangladesh only through Nhava Sheva and Kolkata ports.
'Dealers in northern States were able to get hold of cheap imported garments that cost almost 20% lesser than Tiruppur products. The situation worsened in the last 2-3 years,' said S. Balachandar, vice-president of the South India Hosiery Manufacturers Association.
'Now, the garments can be brought in only through sea ports. This will reduce the illegal entry of ready-made garments. The undergarments made in Tiruppur will be competitive cost-wise with the goods coming by sea. In a couple of months, we hope to see orders increasing for MSMEs in Tiruppur,' he said. Imports of low-priced garments in huge quantities will certainly reduce now, he said.
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), quoting trade data, said India imported readymade garments worth $634 million in 2024, which saw 19% CAGR growth in the last 10 years. Total textile and apparel exports from India to Bangladesh in 2024 were $3.2 billion and exports from Bangladesh to India were $1.07 billion. Though India has a trade surplus with Bangladesh in textiles and apparel, its exports grew 4.97% (CAGR) between 2015 and 2024, while Bangladesh's exports to India grew 12.87%.
Garments worth ₹5,000 crore to ₹6,000 crore are imported by India from Bangladesh annually, including those by the unorganised sector. 'The DGFT decision will reduce the backdoor entry of Chinese fabrics that were getting converted in Bangladesh and entering India without duty,' said Sanjay Jain, chairman of the National Committee of Experts for Textiles, Indian Chamber of Commerce.
Rahul Mehta, chief mentor of Cloth Manufacturers Association of India, said Bangladesh imports cost 12-15% less compared with Indian products. These imports will now shift to sea ports, escalating the cost by almost 10% and increasing the delivery time. This is likely to make Indian buyers look to domestic suppliers, he said.
However, industry representatives point out that a majority of the imports is by retail chains. It remains to be seen how buyers will react to the restriction.
According to Mithileshwar Thakur, Secretary General of AEPC, restrictions on garment imports from Bangladesh will disrupt the supply chain in the short term. However, since most of the imports are by large retailers, the long-term impact will depend on how effective the sea trade is. For low or medium-volume imports, land ports will be preferred.
Rakesh Mehra, chairman of the Confederation, said the DGFT decision will create new opportunities for domestic garment manufacturers. It will also enable Indian cotton yarn exporters to redirect their supply to the domestic market. Bangladesh imposed a restriction last month on export of cotton yarn from India, which traditionally accounts for nearly 45% of India's total cotton yarn exports, he said.
Industry sources said the retail chains in India import manmade fibre (MMF) garments mainly from Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam. Readymade garments from Bangladesh continue to enjoy zero duty access in India, giving the imports a cost advantage. The government should ban import of garments from China and review the duty free access for Bangladesh garments so that the domestic textile chain revives, they said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
40 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Telecom, services draw big FPI flows; IT faces selloff in late May
Agencies Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel Mumbai: Telecom, services, capital goods and consumer goods were the top recipients of the foreign fund flows in the second-half of May, according to data from NSDL. Traditional heavyweights like banks and information technology sectors saw outflows in this period, when overseas fund managers resumed purchases of Indian equities after a stocks received the highest inflow at ₹7,052 crore in the second-half of the month after Singapore's Singtel sold Bharti Airtel shares worth ₹12,880 crore in a bulk deal on May 16."Most of the foreign inflows in the telecom sector can be attributed to the deal," said UR Bhat, co-founder & director, Alphaniti. "The reduced competition with Vodafone Idea languishing, is also expected to benefit the other two players."In the second-half of the month, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector witnessed foreign inflows worth ₹1,872 crore after outflows worth ₹1,057 crore in the first-half of May."Investors have possibly realised that the earlier sell-off in services and FMCG sectors was probably not warranted, as there has since been a pickup in rural demand," said Bhat. "This led foreign investors to realign their information technology sector witnessed the highest outflows worth ₹2,725 crore, after inflows worth ₹289 crore in the Sharma, fund manager at Green Portfolio PMS, said that the business outlook for IT sector is impacted by geo-political realignment and the concerns in the US economy.'There is a portfolio churn, and overseas investors are exiting sectors where valuations are expensive,' said Sharma. 'However, they are shying away from making aggressive bets as the uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade war continues to linger.'Foreign investors offloaded shares worth Rs 2,008 crore in the healthcare sector in the last 15 days of the month and divested shares worth over Rs 1,500 crore in the power, consumer services and automobile sectors
Economic Times
41 minutes ago
- Economic Times
US market outlook: Indian market recovery driven by govt spending & rural demand: Gokul Laroia, Morgan Stanley
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The recovery in Indian markets is entirely a function of the revival of government spending and rebound in rural demand, said Gokul Laroia, CEO Asia and co-head of global equities, Morgan Stanley . In an interview with Nishanth Vasudevan, Laroia spoke about US markets, the dollar and Indian IPOs, among other topics. Edited excerpts:We're positive on the US market because I think all the growth-unfriendly or market-unfriendly actions were taken first. The growth-friendly actions like tax bill, deregulation and financial conditions easing are now coming. And, earnings revisions in the US appear to have bottomed out and, in fact, are now inflecting and becoming more view on the US market continues to be pretty constructive. Now, all of this comes with a caveat. If you don't get a resolution to a lot of the more complicated trade situations, like those with the EU or China, that's obviously going to remain a headwind-and a persistent one. Which is why I tend to feel that the deal with India is actually more India, the market recovery is entirely a function of the revival of government spending and rebound in rural demand. Even if you don't see 7.5% persist, but say, 6.5% real GDP growth and 10-10.5% nominal-that'll provide a lot of support to the markets. Because that'll translate into mid-teen earnings growth and mid-teens ROE.A lot of people actually question the "Multiple India" trade. They say it's expensive, etc. And yes, it's expensive relative to where other markets are trading. But show me a market outside of the US that has high earnings growth, high return on equity, and low volatility. The US trades at 21-22 times earnings too. India trades at 21-22 times earnings. You could argue that the growth rates in India are higher but then the cost of capital in India is also six to eight months, the view was very cautious because of the slowdown in the macro, and earnings disappointment. Some capital was reallocated to China tech after DeepSeek, some capital went to Europe because there was this notion of fiscal expansion in Europe out of Germany. I think that's inflected. The global guys, or at least the classic long-only global guys, tend to be value-conscious. There's a view that India is expensive as a market. But honestly, for as long as I've been doing this, I can't think of a time when India hasn't been expensive as a market. But it continues to perform as a market because I think you've got to think about value in the context of earnings growth, returns on equity, low beta and macro variables. You get that package at 21 times earnings, not at 12 times is going to slow in the US. So a combination of what was actually supporting the dollar is now not going to be there. Our view is that the dollar continues to weaken for the foreseeable future. This year it's down against a basket of major trading partners by about 7-8%. We're of the view that it probably drops by an equivalent amount over the course of the next year or has a whole variety of factors at play. The most important one is the assessment of the US fiscal deficit. And, this tax bill is going to be growth accretive, but the concern that it's creating is that the deficit stays close to 7%. And a 7% deficit will mean that the US government is going to have to borrow a lot. And if the US government has to borrow a lot, then what happens to yields is a big question. Particularly as the traditional buyers of US Treasuries-Japan, China, perhaps even the EU-are perhaps not going to be as big as they were in the past.A little bit of it has happened. But if you think about it in the context of the amount of money that went into the US over the last 10 years versus the amount of money that's actually come out. It's very, very small. And the number one reason for that is that there is no market in the world that gives you the kind of scale the US market to do that in meaningful way is limited, just given scale and depth of markets relative to scale and depth of US. Historically, when the dollar weakened, money flowed into emerging markets. Can that happen again? Money has flown out of the US to emerging markets. But at the margin. Emerging markets can't absorb that much money. I mean, the amount of foreign capital that over the last 10 years has gone into the US—forget the underlying asset class—is over $10 trillion. If a few hundred billion moves into EMs, that'll have a real impact on emerging markets. The point I'm trying to make is that this (outflows) will be a small percentage of what came in, because the rest of the world does not have the ability to absorb that kind of capital. That places the US in a pretty special position. In India, there's a flood of paper (IPOs, promoters selling) in the best thing for Indian market is more paper coming, more liquidity getting generated as a result of paper, and more asset managers trading these markets more actively. If there's too much paper, it has a near-term impact.
Mint
44 minutes ago
- Mint
Samsonite backs India's premium shift, resists e-commerce discount battles
Mumbai: India's booming travel market has ignited a fierce luggage war, pitting established brands against aggressive direct-to-consumer (D2C) newcomers and budget-focused e-commerce platforms. Amidst this intense competition, Samsonite, the global travel gear giant, is leveraging its premium positioning, overhauling its brand strategy and doubling down on its India-specific playbook. In this interview, Anushree Tainwala, vice-president—marketing, Samsonite South Asia, breaks down the company's multi-brand strategy, its refusal to join the discount race, and why a 'tested like Samsonite' pitch is resonating more than flashy advertising. Edited excerpts: Samsonite has a global supply chain. What's India's role in the overall mix? We manufacture in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Europe—but India is a core hub. Samsonite has just three owned factories globally: two in Europe and one in Nashik. Our Indian factory alone produces over 5 lakh pieces monthly, serving both domestic and global subsidiaries. Hard luggage is largely made in-house; soft luggage leverages vendor networks. But everything is engineered and designed internally—no off-the-shelf trading. Also read: Monsoon & Musings: India's ad brains ponder Goafest's future Post-Covid, your India portfolio looks more layered, premium, but also broader. Is it intentional? The brand's positioning hasn't changed—we've always been premium. But what's changed is the Indian consumer. People now buy high-end products here instead of picking them up abroad. While our entry pricing stays at ₹10,000, we now offer ₹30,000– ₹40,000 collections, too. And it's not just metros; demand is strong from Indore, Bhopal and Jaipur. Consumers are seeking both functionality and status. After the post-pandemic boom, has travel demand stabilized? It has normalized, yes, but on a higher base. There's a structural shift, more frequent short breaks, and blended business-leisure trips. New D2C brands are adding momentum, even if their scale remains modest. Mokobara often gets mentioned in the same breath now. They've built awareness and helped grow the category, especially among younger audiences. But long-term performance still matters. Globally, we've seen similar brands rise fast and plateau. We're not chasing acquisitions in India. We already have a strong multi-brand play. Also read: Third time's the charm for this startup looking to ride India's gaming frenzy How is that portfolio segmented? Three main brands—Samsonite, American Tourister (AT), Kamiliant. Each has a clear role. Samsonite is for the engineering-obsessed frequent flyer. American Tourister is energetic, colourful and more mass-premium. Kamiliant targets value-conscious first-time buyers. Then there's Tumi, managed by Reliance Brands. We've built Kamiliant to stand on its own now; earlier, it was 'Kamiliant by AT", but that tie is gradually fading. Your campaign for Samsonite 'Tested Like Samsonite' felt like a shift. That campaign was rooted in consumer research. Loyalists told us they loved our deep product engineering. Things like 32-part wheels and drop-test sensors. So we leaned in. We showed boxer Mary Kom smashing bags, an F1 driver towing one and Amitabh Raj's story of resilience. Instead of glamour, we focused on trust and testing. For AT, we created a music video with Siddhant Chaturvedi. Kamiliant, meanwhile, took the comic route—Ganji Chudail and Komolika-style content. Each brand has its own creative lane. With so many campaigns, how do you assess RoI? Celebrities bring reach; influencers build authenticity. We measure not just conversions, but engagement and long-term equity. Ganji Chudail's Kamiliant video, for example, got over a lakh shares—organic reach like that is gold. What's your marketing spend as a percentage of sales? Around 6–7% of topline. What role does quick commerce play now? We're live on Q-commerce with AT and Kamiliant. There are logistical hurdles, delivering luggage on a two-wheeler isn't easy, but we see use cases like urgent last-minute orders. It's still early days. But you also hinted at pulling back on e-commerce. E-commerce has become a bidding war. It's less about brand discovery and more about algorithmic placement. We've chosen to focus on sustainable growth and profitability. We're present online but don't overinvest in chasing ranks. What about sustainability? Every bag we sell now has a lining made from recycled PET bottles. Globally, we follow strict green norms, even if we don't actively market it in India yet. Indian consumers aren't demanding it yet, but the shift will come. Gen Alpha may grow up with it as a default expectation. Also read: From milk delivery to FMCG - Chitale Bandhu now seeks to make a mark with snacks What's the current retail footprint? Over 15,000–20,000 touchpoints. Samsonite is sold mostly through company stores; AT is franchise-driven; Kamiliant is via multi-brand retail and e-commerce. We have deep reach across all districts. How big is India in Samsonite's global mix? Among the top markets, and one of the fastest-growing. Our R&D centre is in Nashik. The factory there just expanded, now up to 7 lakh units per month. We've invested millions over two phases already. India is not just large, it's strategic. Are exports growing too? We export to Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia. Not to the US yet. But with shifting global tariffs, that may change. You've been busy with collaborations lately. Yes—across all brands. With Masaba, Manish Malhotra, Netflix (Stranger Things, Squid Game), Hugo Boss, Laura Ashley and Smurfs. Collaborations help us reach niche audiences, spark buzz, and keep the brands culturally relevant.
