The Bangladesh situation, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, is causing some anxiety in the Indian garment sector. But she did hope that Bangladeshi textile companies’ investments from India would be secure. She also anticipates that events in the neighbouring nation would soon calm down.
She claimed that she had received calls from Indian businesses that had made investments in Bangladesh’s textile industry when asked how the situation there might affect India. Tamil Nadu was the home of many of them. These investors profited well after going there, and the investments were made in good faith. Additionally, Bangladesh’s exports rose.
“I know also because of the duty and quota liberal approach that we have towards low-income countries, they could even export to India and we were there for importing first. So particularly the garment and knitted fabric sector is seeing a bit of uncertainty because of that. I hope that the investments are all safe other than that at this stage, it’s too early for me to see what kind of an impact this situation in Bangladesh will have on our economy,” she said.
“You’ve had the Prime minister’s observations coming, a statement by the external EAM in the Parliament and the efforts that are being taken to ensure that our borders are safe. I hope that the interim government will settle things sooner rather than later so that both the people of Bangladesh and India can get back to normalcy,” she added.
With 15 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP coming from the textile sector and accounting for 80 per cent of its exports, the sector is vital to the country’s economy. The main export markets for the country’s textiles are the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the European Union. India is Bangladesh’s main export partner, providing 20–25 percent of the yarn Bangladesh imports to make clothing.
The Indian textile industry is feeling optimistic that the current crisis in Bangladesh will positively impact their business due to brands moving their sourcing to regions like India.
