The 9th India Knit Fair got off to a sedate start in Tirupur – the Knit City of India, with exhibitors themselves strolling into their stalls well after the official commencement of the event. The mandatory ribbon cutting occurred at 10 am, and the inauguration ceremony and speeches took place shortly after. The fair is organized by TEA (Tirupur Exporters Association) in association with AEPC (Apparel Exporters Promotion Council). Some of the key issues raised by the Tirupur Exporters’ Association at the inauguration included the need for a steady water supply, demarcation of Tirupur as a Special Economic Zone with the accompanying export concessions, and modification of the existing labour laws. Tirupur knitwear contributes around 52% of total ready made exports from India.

The most important issue facing the garment exporters today is the phasing out of the quota system by the year 2004. The fear today is that this move will marginalize Tirupur in world trade. The speakers laid stress on making adequate preparations to retain competitiveness. A. Sakthivel, President – TEA, exhorted the exporters to gradually shift from cotton to blended fabrics as this would enable them to supply throughout the year. Raju Goenka, Chairman-AEPC, delivered the keynote address, in which he emphasized on upgradation of technology, capacity enhancement and increase in productivity as critical for survival in the post 2004 era.

P.B. Jayakumar, Bureau Chief of Strategic Press India Pvt Ltd is a regular visitor to the fair. “The Tirupur industry is thriving, thanks to its price competitiveness. There are around 1000 exporters in the area – each of whom provides business to five to ten 10 satellite units, including ginning/compressing units.” About the Knit Fair itself, Jayakumar says, “This is a serious affair, unlike many other trade exhibitions. Participants number around seventy, and there is a similar number of serious visitors (read Buyers) visiting the fair everyday. This paves the way for a focused, serious, buyer – seller interaction.”

Mohan Dalal of Balaji Apparels, Mumbai, (balajial@bom3.vsnl.net.in) has a stall at the fair. He hopes to make contact with some international buyers at the event. “The garments trade is based largely on personalized relationships. So such fairs do not immediately lead to huge orders, but act as an initiation platform. Meetings translate into business only when they are followed up painstakingly, and a long term relationship is built. I know of a Korean manufacturer who travels six months a year, simply following up on contacts! Indians invest much less in marketing, in comparison”, Dalal adds.

“We talk of competition from China in the international market, but the nature of the segments the two countries are addressing is somewhat different. China caters to the mass market, whereas the Indian exporter is more focused on fashion trends, and catering to the demands of specific buying houses.” According to Dalal, once you gain a foothold into the international market, the domestic market seems much less attractive.

“Realisations are much better in the export market, and the global apparel export market does not demand credit. In the domestic market, credit periods extend to as much as thirty to sixty days.”

“Another factor is that distribution constitutes a major entry barrier in the domestic market, which of course does not figure in export sales, as one is selling to buying houses who have their distribution network in their respective countries. So overall, exports is a better market to be in,” Dalal opines.

Ajay Jain, Fabricline Media & Marketing, (fmg@vsnl.com) is bullish on prospects for the Indian textile industry. “Though textiles is our largest foreign exchange earner, we must not forget that Indian textile exports constitute only 2.5% of global textile trade. Given our low cost manufacturing base, there exists a tremendous opportunity for our industry to exploit international markets, says Jain. “Yes, there will be competition from China, and a few other East Asian countries, but that just about completes the picture as far as competition is concerned. Few other countries share our inherent cost advantages.”

“The knitwear industry lacks access to technical expertise”, R. Ramamurthy, Officer in Charge, AEPC – SITRA Knitwear Service Centre.

The AEPC – SITRA Knitwear Service Centre was set up with the objective of promoting technology dissemination in the Indian textile industry. indiamarkets News Service spoke to R. Ramamurthy about the services offered by the Centre.

indiamarkets: Could you tell us about the services offered by the Knitwear Service Centre?
Ramamurthy: There are primarily four areas in which the Centre offers assistance to knitwear manufacturers. The first is yarn selection. Here, we instruct manufacturers on yarn selection methods, the qualities of different yarns, typical yarn defects, and how to maximize efficiency in knitting.

The second area is new fabric development. Here, the focus is on controlling fabric specifications, defect prevention, usage of blended yarns, etc. We also advise the manufacturers on selection of knitting machines, etc.

Wet processing methods require expertise on various aspects of material quality. These include improvement of colour fastness, achieving lower shrinkage, etc. At the Centre, we also provide guidelines on how to achieve various kinds of finishes.

The fourth area where we provide assistance is garment stitching. Entrepreneurs require assistance on selection of stitching machines, classification of stitches, and guidelines for garment manufacturing.

indiamarkets: What are the specific instances where people seek your assistance?
Ramamurthy: Let’s say you are a garment manufacturer, and are unable to get rid of the holes occurring consistently in your finished product. Or you are unable to get the desired degree of colour fastness in your garments. Such are the adhoc problems that we are faced with. We use our expertise to help out the manufacturers in such cases.

indiamarkets: Apart from this, does the Centre have any formal training programmes?
Ramamurthy: Yes, we offer a three month training course, meant for students. This equips the students with the skills required for middle management positions in apparel firms. The course is offered for a fee of Rs. 4000/-.

indiamarkets: Are there any other services offered by the Centre?
Ramamurthy: Our testing facilities provide knitwear manufacturers the requisite state of the art equipment to determine the quality standards of their products. We offer a range of testing services across all garment properties. These include the evaluation of colour fastness, shrinkage, strength, etc. The charges for these tests have been fixed at a nominal level, averaging around Rs. 50 per test.

Apart from the testing facilities, the Centre also has a small library, which students can use in order to remain abreast of the key trends in the knitwear industry.

indiamarkets: What exactly are the roles played by the AEPC and SITRA in the daily operations of this organization?
Ramamurthy: AEPC is the official government body for the promotion of garment exports. It has chosen Tirupur as an ideal venue for a technical consultancy Centre, based on this region’s importance as a export centre. While the Centre is funded exclusively by the AEPC, technical expertise is sourced from SITRA, which is the pioneering organization in research on the textile trade in India.

R. Ramamurthy may be contacted at aepctir@md3.vsnl.net.in

Mr A. Chokkalingam, a technical consultant to Modipon Fibres has been a user of indiamarkets.com for the past couple of months. He is full of praise for the site. “I have already had more than 40 inquiries since I registered”, he said. He has recently imported some high quality zippers and stoppers from Power Textiles, Taiwan. “All this has happened thanks to indiamarkets.com.” He has already recommended the site to all of his friends.