A latest spate in labour unrest in Bangladesh's readymade garment factories prompted global apparel brands to shift work orders to neighbouring India.
The unrest follows Sheikh Hasina government's fall in a student movement.
Factory owners and labour leaders allege that the unrest, apparently created at the instigation of outsiders, has forced hundreds of their units to close for the last couple of days.
As a result, the buyers were reportedly shifting their orders to India, they said.
In addition to the closed ones, hundreds of garment factories suspended their operations for the last four days, beginning from Monday over the worker protests.
The Economic Times of India on Thursday reported that the Tiruppur knitwear export hub has swung export orders worth 4.50 billion rupees in the last two weeks from Bangladesh due to the political unrest there.
Quoting KM Subramanian, president of Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA), it also noted that global apparel brands like KiK from Germany, Zeeman from Netherlands, and Pepco of Poland, among others, placed orders to be delivered before the Christmas and New Year and the average price of the garment ordered is to the tune of $3.0 per piece.
According to another report by Times of India, Raymond Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania said on Tuesday last that the company has been receiving "massive inquiries" for garments supply after the political crisis erupted in Bangladesh over the last two months.
"Bangladesh has no fabric capacity... Fabric goes from India to Bangladesh. With the current crisis in Bangladesh, if a customer comes to us, we are giving them integrated supply, both the fabric and the garment, thus saving time.
"The perception has changed against Bangladesh. This is the time when we are getting massive inquiries. We invested 2.0 billion rupees last year to increase our capacity, which has come online and is available," the report quoted Singhania.
Global Data, a leading data and analytics company, on August 19 revealed that the ongoing political and economic instability in Bangladesh, a global hub for textile and apparel manufacturing, became the focal point of discussion among the industry experts and influencers on social media platform "X".
Influencers highlight that the disruption in Bangladesh's textile sector offers India a chance to capitalise on the potential shift in global apparel manufacturing.
They believe India's market share in apparel exports could increase as global brands seek to diversify their supply chains, revealed the Social Media Analytics Platform of Global Data.
GlobalData's Social Media Analytics Platform captured a few popular influencer opinions in this regard.
"Someone's crisis is someone else's opportunity. Bangladesh has been a major exporter of textiles. Now that Bangladesh is going through huge instability, India should make use of the opportunity to bring that business to our country. More so, Tamilnadu should use this opportunity as the state with the number one share of textile exports," GlobalData statement quoted D Muthukrishnan, a certified financial planner.
"India's market share in apparel exports has been 3.0 per cent for a long time. Disruption in Bangladesh along with wage revision is making global labels think of diversification… Lot of Indian companies could be benefitted inking term," it quoted Gurmeet Chadha, chief investment officer at Complete Circle Wealth.
"Bangladesh's loss (textiles) will be Bihar's gain," said Saurav Jha, founder and director of Delhi Defence Review.
Prashant Nair deputy executive editor at CNBC-TV18 was quoted as saying: "A quick point on textile stocks rallying - while the Bangladesh situation may benefit Indian mills. I reckon it will be a temporary bump. Textile exports are Bangladesh's mainstay. Whoever takes charge won't let it slip."
Shreyasee Majumder, Social Media Analyst at GlobalData, commented: "Influencers express a mix of optimism and caution regarding the potential benefits for India's apparel industry amid the Bangladesh's textile sector disruptions."
There is a widespread perception that this is a promising short-term opportunity, predicting a rally in textile stocks and an increase in India's market share, she said.
Many believe that Bangladesh, given the critical importance of textiles to its economy, will prioritise restoring its industry, potentially reclaiming its position sooner than anticipated, she added.
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