Gurgaon: The next apparel hub?

“Haryana is the upcoming destination for investment in apparel industry and is turning into an apparel hub,” says PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, while talking at the discussion held with respect to upcoming‘Happening Haryana: Global Investors Summit” in Gurgaon.

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) hosted the Government Officials of Haryana along with apparel industry experts to discuss the scope of investment in apparel industry as the industry is gearing up for more investment.

The discussion was held with respect to ‘Happening Haryana: Global Investors Summit”, on March 7-8 in Gurgaon where apparel sector is one of the focus areas for investment in Haryana.

The discussion was led by PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana. Other dignitaries present at the discussion were TL Satyaprakash, Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon; Sanjeev Raheja, CII, Chandigarh; Ashwani Gupta, Additional Director (Tech); SN Singh, Joint Director, District Industries Centre, Gurgaon; Vijay Mathur, Additional Secretary General, AEPC; HKL Magu, MD, Jyoti Apparels; Animesh Saxena, MD, Neetee Clothing; and Gautam Nair, MD, Matrix Clothing.

Critical issues such as skilled manpower supply, ease of doing business and need for constant interaction between government and industry for easier compliance of regulations for the apparel industry were discussed. The agenda of the meeting was to understand the critical issues that the apparel industry is facing and existing entrepreneurial growth in this sector. The presentation also addressed the lack of sufficient industrial training institutes.

“We have made a mark in apparel export all over the world. We are the seventh largest apparel exporter in the globe and the industry is growing at the rate of 3.50 per cent. Haryana is the upcoming destination for investment in apparel industry and is turning into an apparel hub. I would like Gurgaon to become an apparel brand like Surat and Varanasi. The Government of Haryana will support the budding entrepreneurs and will provide favourable environment to them. We will gear up and address the critical issues of the industry to motivate entrepreneurship and provide investment in apparel industry,” said PK Das.

“We are happy that Happening Haryana has apparel sector as an area of investment in Haryana.

I appreciate the initiative taken by the Government of Haryana in taking up the industry issues. The apparel sector has its share of problems; investment would increase by leaps and bounds once the government takes steps towards eradication of these problems. We have collaborated with state government in various areas and we are constantly in touch with them to help apparel industry grow further,” said Ashok G Rajani, Chairman, AEPC.

The apparel sector is growing at a rapid pace though there are some hindrances which need to be addressed by the government says HKL Magu

Some of the hindrances according to Magu are:

• The prevalence of inspector raaj. The industry despite being the least polluting one has to bear the brunt of regular summoning and notices from the pollution boards and such other officers.
• The burden of ESI proves to be difficult for new industrialists and the Haryana Government should ease it out by paying the industrialists share of ESI for the first five years as is done by the Governments of Karnataka and Gujarat. It will be a great boost to the industrialists.

Key highlights

• Discussion on attracting investments in the apparel sector through happening Haryana: Global Investor’s Summit
• Skilling and employing: Priority of the government in the apparel sector
• Setting up of more Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) is the need of the hour