Indo-US deal: TN garment exports to double to Rs 30,000 cr

Exporters at the textile town in Tiruppur on Sunday indicated that the shipping of garments to the United States would double to Rs 30,000 crore over the next three years following the signing of the India deal with the US. Tiruppur, located about 450 km west of Chennai, would also witness an increase of job creation to about 5 lakh during the period, Tiruppur Exporters’ Association president K M Subramanian told PTI. 

India and the United States announced on Saturday that they have finalised the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost the two-way trade. Commenting about the deal, Subramanian said, “We welcome it. This deal assumes significance as it will give a huge growth for Tiruppur over the next 5 years.”

Responding to a query, he said currently exports of garments from Tamil Nadu is valued at Rs 15,000 crore and following the deal, it would double to Rs 30,000 crore over the next three years. Subramanian, also the founder-chairman of Tiruppur-based clothing manufacturer K M Knitwear Pvt Ltd said, on account of the India-US deal, another 5 lakh jobs would be created.

“Currently, about 10 lakh people are employed in this industry. It will witness addition of another 5 lakh jobs over the next 3 to 5 years,” he said. To a query, he said the impact of the deal would be witnessed over the next three months. “After that we will be able to see a good growth for (India made) garments that will be exported from Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur’s growth will be on a higher trajectory,” he said.

Another Tiruppur-based entrepreneur and founder of Starrlight Exporters, M Rathinasamy, said the deal would bring in more orders from the United States to Tamil Nadu. “Earlier, some of the orders were going to Bangladesh and other countries. After this deal, we will be getting more orders (from the United States)”, Rathinasamy, also the executive committee member of the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association said.

“We expect that we will be getting a large number of orders on account of this deal,” he said. To a query, he said those existing orders that have already been secured by the garment traders from the United States would be shipped as per the plan. Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (popularly known as TEA) represents exporters of cotton knitwear who have production facilities in Tiruppur and neighbouring regions. Currently, TEA represents about 1,135 knitwear exporters.