Indian textile export target keeps high
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
NEW DELHI, Dec 4 (Xinhua): Struggling to cope with the appreciating rupee and high interest rates, India's Ministry of Textiles fixed the target for exports this fiscal year at a high 25.06 billion US dollars, local newspaper The Indian Express reported today.
This target represents a 34-per cent jump over the 2006-07 figure of 18.73 billion US dollars, while the first quarter of this fiscal year witnessed 13 per cent decline with exports recording 4.01 billion US dollars, down from 4.6 billion US dollars a year before.
Addressing the sixth meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee for textile, Minister of State for Textiles EVKS Elangovan said the target will remain at 25.06 billion US dollars despite a relative slowdown in growth.
With the rupee continuing to gallop, the industry believes that achieving the target is at best difficult and at worst impossible.
"For the first year of Post-MFA, apparel sector grew by 31 per cent, but in the next fiscal (2006-07) the growth was a meager 3.19 per cent. There is a widespread feeling that the growth could be in the negative this year," said Apparel Export Promotion Council chairman Vijay Agarwal.
Exports in the garment segment alone are expected to report 18 per cent to 22 per cent decline this year.
Though many steps have been taken to arrest the slide, things are not likely to change at least in the current fiscal. "We will perhaps be able to match the 2006 figures this year, but there may be a decline as well. The prospects of growth are very bleak," said Confederation of Indian Textile Industries (CITI) secretary general DK Nair.
This target represents a 34-per cent jump over the 2006-07 figure of 18.73 billion US dollars, while the first quarter of this fiscal year witnessed 13 per cent decline with exports recording 4.01 billion US dollars, down from 4.6 billion US dollars a year before.
Addressing the sixth meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee for textile, Minister of State for Textiles EVKS Elangovan said the target will remain at 25.06 billion US dollars despite a relative slowdown in growth.
With the rupee continuing to gallop, the industry believes that achieving the target is at best difficult and at worst impossible.
"For the first year of Post-MFA, apparel sector grew by 31 per cent, but in the next fiscal (2006-07) the growth was a meager 3.19 per cent. There is a widespread feeling that the growth could be in the negative this year," said Apparel Export Promotion Council chairman Vijay Agarwal.
Exports in the garment segment alone are expected to report 18 per cent to 22 per cent decline this year.
Though many steps have been taken to arrest the slide, things are not likely to change at least in the current fiscal. "We will perhaps be able to match the 2006 figures this year, but there may be a decline as well. The prospects of growth are very bleak," said Confederation of Indian Textile Industries (CITI) secretary general DK Nair.