Okhla Garment & Textile Cluster (OGTC) recently had a virtual panel discussion on ‘Xinjiang impact on T&A industry’.
The panel discussion, which was well moderated by Prashant Agarwal, JMD, Wazir Advisors, had industry stalwarts as panellists including Dr. A. Sakthivel, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC); Pallab Banerjee, Group President, Pearl Global; Dr. Ajay Sahai, Director General & CEO, FIEO and PMS Uppal, MD, Pee Empro Exports & President, OGTC.
Industry stalwarts agreed that due to the Xinjiang issue, buyers are now looking towards India and that India also has capacities, though availability of labour and raw materials at right price remain core issues.
They were also of the opinion that the Government should come forward to control the raw material price.
It was also highlighted in the discussion that the cost of providing proper training to an operator is almost 3 times higher than the cost of machines, and that Government policies regarding skill development need to be more flexible.
The event also discussed that US retailers have increased prices in recent months; while the US market is in full swing, the EU, Japan and Australia are still not.
Expert suggested that as China’s apparel export is down in 20 product categories, India needs to focus on these categories.
The panellists agreed that practical solutions regarding Government’s support to the industry include regulating the raw material export, immediate extension of the limit to increase the cash flow as the bottom line of the companies are not improved and extension of the Interest Subvention Scheme for all.
Many exporters of Delhi-NCR participated in the event. RC Kesar, DG, OGTC thanked the panellists and participants.
