4 GARMENT INDUSTRY

4.1 AN OVERVIEW

Textile Industry:

The Indian Textiles Industry has an overwhelming presence in the economic life of the country. Apart from providing one of the basic necessities of life, the textiles industry also plays a pivotal role through its contribution to industrial output, employment generation, and the export earnings of the country. Currently, it contributes about 14 percent to industrial production, 4 percent to the GDP, and 17 percent to the country’s export earnings. It provides direct employment to over 35 million people, which includes a substantial number of SC/ST, and women. The Textiles sector is the second largest provider of employment after agriculture. Thus, the growth and all round development of this industry has a direct bearing on the improvement of the economy of the nation.

The Indian textiles industry is extremely varied, with the hand-spun and Ihand-woven sector at one end of the spectrum, and the capital intensive, sophisticated mill sector at the other. The decentralized power looms/ hosiery and knitting sectors form the largest section of the Textiles sector

The industry has several vast sectors within it, viz, the mill sector, the clothing or garment sector, the handloom sector and the power loom sector. Each of these sectors employs lakhs of workers and also contributes significantly to the national economy. The tradable commodities under textiles include readymade garments (clothing), cotton yarns, fabrics, silk and woolen products, etc.

The garment sector:

The garment sector, however, has emerged as the most globalised sector in the world today. This sector alone employs about 4.3million workers. A large segment of the garment sector comprises of a vast domestic market, while another significant segment caters to the export market. Most of the units producing for exports are in Tirupur, Delhi and Mumbai. According to the ministry of commerce, 53per cent of the total textile exports in 2007-2008, was from the garment sector alone. Nearly 80 per cent of Indian clothing exports go to the USA and the EU where they face quota restrictions. Apart from agriculture and Patents, textiles and clothing in particular are the murkiest elements on the stage of world politics. The struggle on these two sectors continued throughout the Uruguay round for eight years. Textiles and clothing still remain as the most contentious issues.