In the corner of a small office there are three pictures – Dhirubhai Ambani, Dr. A. Sakthivel and that of Pratik Bothra, owner of the office of Shri Mahavir Apparels/Bothra Kidswear, Indore. “We need someone like Dr. A. Sakthivel who can bring export orders for Indore,” says Pratik who is one amongst the 2200 odd apparel firms in the naturally developed apparel manufacturing cluster of Indore. Touching new heights in domestic market despite many hurdles, Indore is moving steadily towards taking its rightful place in apparel exports. Between positive signs of growing awareness of the basic requirements of the export market and increasing individual efforts to achieve these benchmarks, the hub is bogged down by old mindsets and lack in collective approach for realization of greater growth potential. Team Apparel Online who was recently in Indore, interacted with several medium and small-level exporters, analyzing the ground realities and the potential that Indore has to become an apparel export city…
The readymade complex of Indore, especially allocated for garmenting units houses some of the best factories of the region. The owners are upfront in sharing details of their company and about the Indore market, but strangely are very cautious that no picture of their shop floor is clicked. They accept that Indore players have a conventional thinking and most of the exporters have confined their market to the Middle East or neighbouring countries only, with maximum order of not more than 1000 pieces. They fear exporting to the EU or the US as the compliance rules are very tough, they also feel that the system of working on well defined norms of tech pack, pantone shade card and approvals at various stages are difficult to follow. This conservative thinking has seeped into manufacturing and some exporters prefer to expand by setting up units in the other cities rather than in Indore. One of them speaking to AO confirmed that it was difficult to keep large production capacity under one roof at Indore though this helps in overcoming the labour issues especially high labour attrition/turnover, so he is planning smaller units outside the city to support operations of his main factory.
Most of the exporters in Indore are working through Mumbai based buying agents dealing with the Middle East market in a big way. More than 50 firms are into direct and indirect export into this market and most of them are working with these Mumbai based agents who are basically a bridge between the manufacturer and the buyer and who take complete responsibility from order finalizing to drawback collection. Interestingly, such buying agents and buying houses are now developing base in Indore too, and which gives hope that Indore will get larger orders in the future as these buyers are looking for a variety of products not limited only to kidswear, but including shirts, trousers and even undergarments.
Indore basically has a job-work culture, as top Indian brands and retailers have been outsourcing their manufacturing from here. Often it works smoothly as owners’ supports them financially. However, some buyers shared that professionalism is missing and some job workers create hurdles as once the orders are placed and dates are set for dispatch, their tone and tanner gets changed and they negotiate for a higher price.
Some industry watchers suggested that the only way to attract the buyer into Indore is through holding local garment fairs. It is for sure that if a garment fair is held here, a lot of international buyers, not only from the Middle East countries but also from other countries would visit the fair.
No doubt, Indore can grow, but it requires a change in thinking and a more dedicated effort to get the buyers into the city!
