India’s garment exports badly hit by state lockdowns

Bangalore,
Karnataka

Indian garment
exports sector is badly affected as many states are experiencing total
lockdown. The sector has recorded a loss of around $15 billion during the
second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Karnataka
contributes 20% of the total volume of garment exports to the overseas market.
However, the state has been under a total lockdown since May 10 and will remain
so till May 24. According to Rahul Mehta, Chief Mentor, Clothing Manufacturer’s
Association of India, no garment production is allowed in the state during the
lockdown period. He also said that the exporters have asked the government for
permission to at least finishing and packaging the completed orders so that the
exports can be sent out.

He said that if
the export orders are cancelled then it will become very difficult to replace
them because the formalities such as letters of credit and bank facilities take
a lot of time.  Rahul Mehta also
mentioned that India’s export volumes are far behind China. As the business
reduced last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, export has come down to $13
billion in this sector.

The pandemic has
affected a lot of jobs in the multi-million garment manufacturing industry. The
industry earlier employed around 12 million people but the number has reduced
now.

The US and Europe
are India’s biggest markets for garment
export. The industry, mainly comprising MSMEs, is adversely affected due to
the pandemic. States such as Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, West
Bengal and Punjab are affected. As per the industry insiders, the government’s
stimulus package did not benefit the industry much.

Source: Business
Today

Image Source: Wikipedia

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