India’s textile and apparel sector’s export is on a growth path, registering an export growth of 5.81 per cent in November 2024 compared to last year. There is an increase in both apparel as well as textile exports.
According to estimates released by the Department of Commerce, the apparel exports for the month of November 2024 have increased by 9.8 per cent as compared to November 2023. In the entire textile product range, this growth of 9.8 per cent is the second highest after jute products. However apparel exports are still down by 6.6 per cent as compared to November 2022.
The cumulative apparel exports for the period April-November 2024-25 is US $ 9853.9 million showing a growth of 11.4 per cent over April-November 2023-24 and a decline of 4.9 per cent over April- November 2022-23.
The industry believes that the growth for the month of November 2024 reflects the growing trust of the global brands for made-in-India products especially looking at the uptick in the festive season demand. The growth in the USA and UK is picking up which are India’s top markets.
These developments are in light of India’s merchandise trade deficit widening to a record high of US $ 37.84 billion in November 2024. The surge reflects the twin challenges of a global economic slowdown and rising imports.
Sudhir Sekhri, Chairman AEPC stated, “Indian apparel sector is registering significant export growth signaling acceptability and rise in demand for made-in-India products globally. While the overall exports declined, apparel exports withstood the headwinds showing the resilience to buck the adverse situation.” He is hopeful that with the changing geopolitical equations, a lot more business will shift to India in the near future.
With regard to textile export in the month of November 2024, there is a growth of 3.9 per cent compared to the same month of the last year. The cumulative exports of Textiles and Apparel during the April-November ’24 period have registered a growth of 6.93 per cent as compared to April-November ’23
“The T&A sector has shown encouraging progress this year, particularly with strong export growth recorded in October 2024. However, November brought challenges due to ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainties impacting global trade flows. The rising imports of textile products and apparel also call for a renewed focus on India’s cost competitiveness,” said Rakesh Mehra, Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).
Among the increase of textile and apparel export, there is a massive increase of 458.76 per cent in the import of Cotton (Raw & Waste) also. In November 2024, it was US $ 170.73 million compared to US $ 30.61 million in November 2023.
