“Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success”. Following this dictum of Henry Ford, OGTC has evolved over the last 9 years to become more than just an association of few companies. It has established itself as a preferred partner for manufacturers, establishing a collective initiative to build and sustain competiveness, felicitating knowledge and resource sharing by increased corroboration between the members. At the recently held annual function of OGTC, many members of the association gathered together and vowed to strive for excellence of the industry as whole. Amongst the speakers at the event were Tony Uppal, President of OGTC and MD, Pee Empro; Gautam Nair, MD, Matrix Clothing; and special guest for the occasion V.K. Garg, Ex-Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance, who has just a few days ago put in his papers.
Differentiating OGTC’s working from its counterparts, R.C. Kesar, Director, OGTC aptly said, “At OGTC, we do not crib over the adverse conditions, but we take them as a part and parcel of business. We have inculcated a culture in our members to device solutions and never withhold their individual attempts.” Tony Uppal, added, “We at OGTC strongly feel that platforms like OGTC, Noida Cluster, GEA, AEMA, etc. can play a very important and critical role in making competitors as collaborators and utilize the infrastructure to its full potential.”
The general consensus at the event was that the industry is recovering. “Figures which had been flat in terms of both quantities and dollar values for the past few years have changed in the last 3 months. AEPC data shows increase in exports in terms of US $ value. China is actually losing its competiveness now, while Bangladesh is facing internal crisis and finally the US market is standing up. There has never been a better time for Indian manufacturers to seize the opportunity for growth,” reasons Nair.
The highlight of the event was the short but emphatic address by the chief guest, V.K. Garg who urged the industry to focus on finances and tax management. “I have opted out of the Government, but with my inside information and years of walking the corridors of power, I will advise the industry to be alert to changes in taxation that could impact business,” he said. Garg further added, “Good and bad times are part of the business, and as entrepreneurs one has to adapt to situations and those who do it most quickly, generally find themselves profitable, no matter what the time is.” He shared that in comparison to the state of the economy, the apparel sector is doing better, confessing that the fiscal deficit situation is really grave and central excise rate has grown up to 12%. “But for entrepreneurs, there are great things waiting to happen. Most important is the introduction of the GST. Your sector will be the most impacted and the biggest benefactor from this change. There would be a chance to improve your profits by 3 to 6%, depending on the state your company is situated in,” said Garg.
Apart from its primary function, that is to felicitate business capabilities of its members, OGTC has diversified its operations in various other dimensions. OGTC is probably the first group of apparel exporters in the world which has undertaken the measurement of Carbon Foot Print by using CDP approved software and work on its reduction. OGTC is behind regular employee health checkups; training and employment of physically disabled persons as per their disability; voluntary safety audits; and in-house training facility for skill development. Members involved in various such activities were acknowledged at the event.
The future aim of OGTC is to mature into a true industry cluster – bringing ancillary industries and firms within the canopy. The other agenda that would run parallel is to identify better and responsible suppliers to strengthen the supply chain by training employees.
Concluding the event M.K. Mehra, Director, invited all members to the upcoming OGTC 9th International Conference on Apparel & Home Textiles, to be held on 20th and 21st September, 2013 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The theme of the conference this year is “Creative Thinking”.
