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Rising Supply Chain Issues Prompts Closer Sourcing
MARKETUPDATE Rising Supply Chain Issues Prompts Closer Sourcing
Labour shortages due to Covid outbreaks, higher freight costs and the uncertainty related to the reports of forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region is prompting the US to reduce dependency on imports and focus on closer sourcing.
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In a McKinsey & Co. survey of 38 chief procurement officers at clothing companies, 71 percent said they plan to increase their nearshoring share, including 13 percent who expect to do so by more than 10 percentage points. Twenty-four percent plan to increase reshoring in their sourcing strategy.
For U.S. companies, Central America ranks highest on the list for future nearshoring activities. Roughly eight of 10 North American apparel players—nearly one-quarter of the respondents in McKinsey’s survey are based in the region—plan on increasing their company’s sourcing value share in Central America.
According to OTEXA, overall U.S. blue denim apparel imports increased 28% year over year in October, while those from Western Hemisphere countries grew 40%. Mexico registered a 43% percent gain compared to 2020.Imports from the countries of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) rose 29%. In December when President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, legislation that bans imports from Xinjiang, into law. The act creates a “rebuttable presumption” that all products from Xinjiang have been made under coercion by persecuted Muslim minorities—thereby barring them from entering the United States under the 1930 Tariff Act—unless “clear and convincing” evidence proves otherwise. This led to brands and retailers starting to ask more questions about their supply chain, like ‘Where did this cotton come from? How about this yarn? Now the U.S. government is becoming even more vigilant related to this issue. The U.S. government’s actions on Xinjiang provide an opportunity for companies “to shift sourcing closer to home, where they can understand the transparency in their supply chain.
Vice President Kamala Harris in December announced new commitments to invest in the region from seven companies, including Parkdale Mills. A North Carolina-based manufacturer of spun yarn and cotton consumer products, Parkdale plans to invest $150 million in building a new yarn spinning facility in Honduras and supporting an existing facility in Virginia, the White House said.
The investment is intended to support roughly 500 employees at each location. According to NCTO, the move will shift 1 million pounds of yarn per week away from supply chains in Asia. In 2021, exports from Central American countries to the United States soared compared to the prior year. Going into the final weeks of the year, the latest data showed textile exports up 33 percent from the Dominican Republic on the low end and up 56 percent from Honduras on the higher end, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala all landed somewhere in the middle. According to data from the Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries’ (Abicalçados), the South American country exported 110.77 million pairs of shoes from January to November, generating $805.7 million. These totals represented increases of 31 percent and 34.6 percent in volume and revenue, respectively, against the same period in 2020. Compared to 2019, volume grew 5.6 percent and revenue decreased 9.6 percent.
With environmental concerns weighing more in companies’ strategies, firms in the Western Hemisphere are turning to green practices to differentiate themselves from the competition. n
American Eagle Latest Entrant into the World of Metaverse
AEO is the latest brand to enter the world of metaverse, after it clocked a deal with Roblox aimed at making gains with Gen Z. The clothing brand’s new spring campaign, called “Members Always,” will allow consumers to hang out in the “AE Members Always Club,” hosted on the online gaming platform that surged in popularity during the pandemic. Consumers will be able to create avatars in the gaming platform’s digital world Livetopia, collect game items and dress their avatars in the brand’s spring collection. Other clothing brands have partnered with virtual platforms. Under Armor launched a Steph Curry NFT shoe that can be worn across different metaverse platforms, and Forever 21 and Ralph Lauren also released virtual clothing lines on Roblox.
First Women CEO at Ikea India
IKEA, the Swedish home furnishings retailer, has appointed Susanne Pulverer as its new and first woman chief executive officer (CEO) and chief sustainability officer (CSO), for its India business. Pulverer took over from the outgoing India CEO Peter Betzel, who moved on to the next assignment within the IKEA Group. Pulverer began her association with IKEA as an environmental manager. She worked as the company’s MD of communications from May 2011 to August 2016 in Sweden, according to her LinkedIn profile. From August 2017 to March 2019, she was in Bengaluru as the local community leader for IKEA India. Pulverer then moved to Netherlands to take up the role of business risk and compliance manager for the Ingka Group, which owns most of the IKEA stores across the world.
Asos Asks for 2% Discount from Suppliers
Asos has written to suppliers to ask for a 2% trade discount to offset the impact of inflation that has affected a lot of retail chains and retailers. The supply chain crisis and hike in raw material prices is seen as one of the major reasons for hike in cost in almost all segments. The online retailer will apply the discount on orders with invoices dated from 1 February A. s per the company Chief commercial officer so far the group has tried to absorb the effects of inflation and worked to offset it and will continue to absorb most of the effects of inflation, however, it now wants suppliers to share the burden and put in place measures essential to maintaining competitive prices. Asos’ sales and profits were dented over the key Christmas trading period, with revenue up just 2% to £1.4 billion and gross margin down by 400 basis
Banana Republic is the latest to get into the baby wear and athletics line.
BR Baby is a 40-piece collection that “evokes a whimsical and adventurous spirit” and is “committed to being more genderinclusive,” according to the company. S Sizes range from 0 to 24 months, and prices are from $20 to $250. BR Athletics is a gender-inclusive capsule collection “inspired by retro athletic style, re-interpreted with an irreverent attitude,” according to the company. Sizes range from XXS to XXL, and prices are from $20 to $500. It will be available online and in stores on March 16. The Gap Inc. brand has been struggling in recent years, and in November reported a third quarter net sales decline of 18% versus 2019 and a two-year comparable sales decline of 10%.
United Colors of Benetton Steps Into the Metaverse
Benetton will open a store in the metaverse and adapt the physical store on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan. Visitors will not be able to buy clothes, but there will be various gaming experiences that will allow them to collect QR codes. These QR codes can be used when making purchases in Benetton’s physical stores. This way, the brand creates an additional connection point with the consumer, strengthening the omnichannel strategy. Benetton’s online ‘store’ will have the same look and feel as the store on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Milan in the coming weeks. The store has been given a new look that is completely pink.
JCP Adds Menswear in Product Profile
J.C. Penney launched a private label men’s apparel brand, Mutual Weave. The workwear-inspired brand includes denim, tees, button-downs, knits, jackets and shoes, and is available in sizes XS to 5XLT and in adaptive styles. Mutual Weave can be found on the retailer’s website and at 600 of J.C. Penney’s more than 650 stores. Like other retailers, J.C. Penney is investing in its private label brands. It has been observed that many private label brands have grown and attracted good margins also in fact the brands are pushing company’s financial performance. Target has seen success with the strategy. It has produced 10 billion-dollar private labels thus far, most recently with its All in Motion athletic apparel line, which generated $1 billion in its first year. Last year JCP reintroduced its private activewear brand Xersion, along with womenswear brand Ryegrass and home brand Loom + Forge.
A New Apparel Segment Is Growing Exponentially …
Due to increased female participation of developing countries in badminton the sales of women’s badminton clothing, is expected to exceed US$ 11.72 billion. Through 2032, the industry is expected to grow at a stunning 11% CAGR, attaining a worth of US$ 33 billion. The market grew 10.98% year over year in 2022 compared to 2021. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), over 6 million people played badminton in 2019, with women accounting for 2.1% of the total. As a result, key badminton apparel such as sports bras, female socks, female jerseys, shoes, and shorts are seeing a strong increase in sales. Growth is concentrated in key growing countries such as China, India, Africa, Brazil, and others, as these countries account for the majority of increased female participation in sporting events. China has risen to the top of the badminton world in recent years, with about 250 million players. According to statistics from 2018, badminton has become one of China’s most popular sports.
Ted Baker Launches New Marketplace
Ted Baker is launching a new site in collaboration with BigCommerce to increase its sale on online platform. The new marketplace will help Ted in managing its global presence from a single store and also streamline day to day back end employee operations. All of Ted Baker’s 12 regional storefronts will be localised, with shoppers able to browse in their preferred language such as English, French, German and Spanish and make purchases using their preferred currency including pounds, dollars and euros.
John Lewis to Invest £90mn for Store Expansion
The online sales of John Lewis has seen a very good growth, however, the company will still continue to operate offline and not close its stores. The retailer unveiled plans to invest £90 million in stores this year, which would fund 23 shop refurbishments. Online sales have soared across the partnership. At John Lewis’ sister company Waitrose, ecommerce sales grew 14% year on year and now stand at 17% of total sales. The department store achieved record annual sales in a year where it had 16 fewer stores and lockdown forced all shops to close for 10 weeks. John Lewis Partnership has revealed that it will not close any more stores despite online accounting for two thirds of its sales over the past year.
Uniqlo Suspends Operations in Russia
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niqlo temporarily suspended i t s operations in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Uniqlo has now backtracked on its decision to keep its Russian stores open and temporarily suspended its operations in the country following its invasion of Ukraine. It said: “Our company mission is centered around offering the general public basic, affordable clothes that are made for everyone. We believe it is our responsibility to provide such essential items to all, including those affected by conflict, natural disasters and other devastations.” “However, we have recently faced a number of difficulties, including operational challenges and the worsening of the conflict situation. For this reason, we will temporarily suspend our operations.”
Boohoo Group partners with Fashion Enter
Boohoo Group has teamed up with notfor-profit Londonbased manufacturer Fashion Enter to provide the opportunity for people to apply for levelthree and level-four apprenticeships. The online group, which includes Boohoo, BoohooMan, PrettyLittleThing, MissPap, Nasty Gal, Karen Millen, Coast, Oasis and Warehouse, has funded £85,000 of its Apprenticeship Levy to Fashion Enter’s new academy. Fashion Enter will offer training and arrange placements for the students on behalf of the Boohoo Group, with a focus on candidates from underrepresented communities within the Leicestershire area.
M&S Invests Acquires Active wear Brand
M&S has made a “strategic investment” in online activewear business. The company known as The Sports Edit was a “complementary ecommerce platform well positioned in the growing activewear market…due to its highly engaged customer base”. Activewear, has been one of retail’s highest growth categories since the onset of the pandemic. The market is now worth almost £900m after seeing 35% growth over the last two years. M&S, has recently started selling third-party brands online and in selected stores. Last year it bought the Jaeger label out of administration and took a minority stake in Nobody’s Child.
ONE DISTRICT ONE PRODUCT Products Now on Amazon
Whether it is the beautiful Chikankari from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh or the Sambalpuri Ikat from Sambalpur, Odisha, or the tasty coffee from Chikamagaluru, Karnataka, or Muga Silk from Kokrajhar, Assam, India has a host of distinctive cultural traditions as well as unique and varied products that are extremely local to a certain town or city. The Government of India launched the ‘One District One Product (ODOP) initiative with an aim to foster balanced regional development across all districts of the country. To further this vision, Amazon India has launched the India ODOP (one district one product) Bazaar on Amazon.in in collaboration with Invest India and Indian Industries Association (IIA). The India ODOP Bazaar will feature hundreds of ODOP and Geographical Indication (GI) products from local businesses across all Indian states. The storefront will drive a special focus on handlooms & handicrafts created by local Indian artisans as well as locally produced agricultural specialties from across India. Not only will the India ODOP Bazaar will provide customers an interactive and engaging experience, but they will be able to visit the regional pages and read more about the ODOP products from various districts across India and make a more informed purchasing decision. Customers will have the opportunity to support local businesses and contribute to their growth by shopping online.Manish Tiwary added, “We are excited to join hands with Invest India and IIA to support the ODOP initiative of Govt of India that promotes handlooms and handicrafts created by local Indian artisans and helps accelerate economic growth, generate employment and promote rural entrepreneurship. We remain committed to our pledge of digitizing 10 million MSMEs by 2025 and contribute to the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
Backward integration the way forward for Apparel Industry says Textiles Secretary
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pendra Prasad Singh suggested that the Indian apparel industry must focus on vertical integration to increase its scale and size and to benefit from the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
Speaking at the 44th Foundation Day of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), Singh said, “I understand apparel and garmenting is not very investment centric but it is very important from an employment point of view. Perhaps, there is a need for backward integration and more of you can get into integrated value-chain like spinning and weaving.” Virtually addressing the Foundation Day, the Textiles Secretary said that along with the PLI scheme, the government is committed to make the Prime Minister Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme a success. Idea is not to just have a world class infrastructure but also a thriving industry there, he said. Stating that textile has always been among the top priorities of the government, he said, “There are a lot of big opportunities. The demand continues to be robust and the China plus one sourcing strategy by the west is certainly a great opportunity for us.” “We should be in a position to breach $20 billion apparel exports by next fiscal or the year after that,” Singh said, adding that the country’s textile exports can increase from the current $40 billion to $100 billion in the next five years. Ms Shubhra, Trade Adviser in the Ministry of Textiles, also attended the Foundation Day. AEPC Chairman Narendra Goenka shared the journey of the AEPC since its establishment in 1978 from a quota monitoring and export promotion body to the Council that today offers services ranging from skilling, assessment, market intelligence, advocacy, capacity building programs on financial risks, compliance management, IPR issues, AI and technology driven production innovations, lean and six sigma, circularity, sustainability, among others.
Allotment of Plots in Apparel Park in Noida in Full Swing Yeida issues 29 plots for Jewar Apparel park
The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) has issued lease plans of 29 plots at the upcoming Apparel park in Jewar to start possession process for the same.. At the apparel park, a total of 91 plots will be allotted to entrepreneurs who are part of the Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC). Of these, 82 plots have already been allotted, said the Yeida officials. Arun Vir Singh, CEO, Yeida, said, “While eight lease plans were issued last week, 21 more issued on Wednesday. The allottees are required to get the lease plans signed by different departments of the authority in order to start the possession process. The plots at the Apparel Park are ready for possession as sewer lines have been laid as well as streetlights and other facilities are almost complete.” The remaining lease plans will also be issued by the end of March, said the officials. “The units which are engaged in manufacturing and making garments and apparel have been allotted plots at the park. Once the possession process is complete, industries will start construction and the hub will be ready by 2023,” said Thukral, who is also the convener of readymade garments, UP Export Promotion Council. The apparel park was conceived in 2018 and in February 2020, the scheme of plots was opened for allotment. The park is expected to draw an investment of around ₹2,500 crore and earn ₹5,000 crore foreign exchange annually, said Thukral. “Prominent garment and apparel houses have been allotted plots at the apparel park which will further strengthen the district’s presence in the industry and generate employment for 500,000 people. The NAEC industries will make sure to employ a majority of people from nearby villages and towns and 70% of the workforce will be women,” he said.
Embassy of India, Paris and AEPC organise Webinar on Opportunities In ‘India-France
The Embassy of India, Paris in collaboration with Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) organized a webinar on ‘India-France: Market Opportunities and Areas of Cooperation for a Sustainable Textile and Fashion’. Dr Praphullachandra Sharma, DCM, Embassy of India, Paris, gave the opening remarks. Shubhra, Trade Advisor, Ministry of Textiles talked on policy and sustainability targets and ambitions related to Indian textile industry and sustainability. Trade Advisor emphasized on the fact that the Indian Government is employing different policies to improve productivity and reduce environmental pollution. “Initiatives like PM-MITRA which is establishing seven mega textile parks across the country would enable embedding sustainability in the value chain and would make the industry future ready giving it a competitive edge globally” the advisor said. AEPC Chairman, Narendra Goenka said, “Indian apparel industry is very well aware of the alarming
fact that without sustainable supply chains, the fashion industry will become less and less viable. Sustainability is now counted as one of the major pillars of apparel export business and a growth tool.” The webinar dwelled on various subjects from environment sustainability like water usage, energy consumption, chemical loads, air emission, carbon emission, solid waste, and landfill, to circularity and social sustainability such as inclusivity, skilling, labour reforms and women empowerment.
Welspun India in collaboration with DuPont Biomaterials has launched a new home textile collection, including bath towels and bed sheets, made with bio-based materials to meet a growing demand for sustainable home textile products. The collaboration brings together cotton and DuPont Sorona fibres to create home textile fabrics. The fabrics used in the new range provide comfort, moisture management and soft hand feel. DuPont’s Sorona brand made from 37% renewable plant-based ingredients offer a high-performing, responsibly sourced material option. Fibres made with Sorona polymer are currently used in various apparel applications, including athleisure and athletic wear, insulation, swimwear, outerwear, suiting, faux fur and more. Sorona polymer offers technical and performance benefits, including softness, stretch and recovery, and inherent stain 2 resistance without the need for topical treatments. It is a USDA Certified Biobased Product and is certified as an Oeko-Tex Standard 100 product. “Welspun India challenged us to deliver a fibre innovation that will enable them to offer a perceptible value addition to their end customers and yet provide a sustainable solution. We were able to deliver to the Welspun team the Sorona fibre in a format that allows its incorporation into a range of applications, including towels and bedsheets” said Dr Gowri Nagarajan, regional sales and marketing manager, DuPont Biomaterials. “Our collaboration with the DuPont Biomaterials team is a significant step towards our commitment to bringing value-added products to address tomorrow’s challenges through a sustainable approach without compromising on performance and value,” said Dipali Goenka, CEO & joint managing director, Welspun India.
Increase in production, supply chain boost in customer orders helped the company to Improve Results
Increase in production, supply chain, and boost in customer orders Improves Results Kitex Garments reported a 44% rise in its net profit to Rs 26 crore ($3.6 million) for the second quarter ended September 26, as against Rs 18 crore in posted in the year-ago period. The company’s revenue for the quarter rose by 34 percent to Rs 178 crore, as against Rs 133 crore it posted in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. Kitex Garments attributed the strong growth during the quarter to an increase in production, supply chain, and boost in customer orders post the easing of restrictions that were imposed last year to curb the spread of Covid-19. The company expects strong growth in the coming quarters on the back of festive season sales.The company said that the new expansion plan at Telangana is progressing as per the schedule. It plans to set up two mega projects with a total investment of Rs 2,400 crore in Telangana.
India Can Attain $10 bn in leather exports by 2025: says Textile Minister
Recently at a meeting Textile Minister raised his voice regarding the potential in leather exports. He expressed that the sector can grow to $10 billion by 2025—though that still gives it a growth rate of only 15-17 per cent. Kolhapuri chappals alone can achieve $1-billion exports target, he told the National Export Excellence Awards presentation ceremony of the Council for Leather Exports (CLE) in New Delhi. Goyal appealed the leather industry to be selfsufficient and not wait for the government to roll out schemes, give land at subsidised rates or come out with a performance-linked incentive scheme.
Extension of Deadline to Claim Dues
The last date for exporters to submit online applications to claim their pending dues under different export promotion schemes has been extended again, according to a notification of the commerce ministry. Exporters can claim pending refunds under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), RoSCTL (Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes) scheme and Rebate of State Levies (RoSL) scheme. The date for MEIS and 2 per cent additional ad hoc incentive has been extended till April 30 this year and for RoSCTL and ROSL, the deadline has been extended till March 15 this year.
Time to Tap Potential of MMF Sector
The Centre is giving a push to the textile and clothing industry to leverage the traditional strengths in the man-made fibre (MMF) sector, Minister of State for Textiles and Railways Darshana Vikram Jardosh said. The focus would be on manufacturing, infrastructure, technology, innovation, and skills, she added. Inaugurating a virtual conference on ‘$450 billion Global MMF Textiles Trade: Growth Beacon for the Indian Textile Industry’, organised by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), the Minister said India had a long way to go to emerge as a leading manufacturer of MMF textile products globally. While the industry would face stiff competition from established players in the sector - China, Taiwan, South Korea, etc., increasing labour and manufacturing costs in these countries would give ample opportunities for Indian players. Industry captains should give thrust to the MMF sector by investing in it and taking maximum advantage of schemes such as Production Linked Incentive, PM MITRA, etc.
PLI SCHEME Attracts Big Textile Players, 67 Applications Received by MOT
The textile ministry has received applications from as many as 67 companies to avail benefits of the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for man-made fibres and technical textile sectors. The PLI scheme for textiles covers 40 man-made fibre (MMF) garment items, 14 MMF fabric goods and 10 technical textile products. RIL, Arvind, Bombay Dyeing, Welspun, IndoRama Synthetics, Bombay Dyeing, Vardhman Group, Trident and Shahi Exports are some of the companies that have applied for the scheme. The government had approved the PLI scheme worth Rs 10,683 crore for the sector with an aim to boost domestic manufacturing, create jobs and promote exports. As against Govt’s expectations of over Rs 19,000 crore investments, these companies have shown that they would be investing like Rs 22,00023,000 crore in the MMF and technical textiles.
Birla Cellulose Targets Zero Carbon emissions by 2040
Birla Cellulose, the pulp and fibre business of Grasim Industries Ltd. a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, announced its goal to bring down its net carbon emissions to zero across all its operations by 2040, with a possibility to reach it earlier by 2035. The company also targets to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity to half by 2030 from the baseline of 2019. Sharing his thoughts on the announcement, H K Agarwal, Managing Director Grasim Industries Ltd and Business Director, Birla Cellulose said, “This is a natural progression in Birla Cellulose’s global leadership in the area of sustainability. Birla Cellulose’s climate target is at the core of its business strategy that aims to address climate change-related risks and adapt to changing consumer preferences for more sustainable, nature-based, and low emission products.”
Textile Industry of Panipat in Crisis
The textile industry in Panipat is facing a dilemma to move out of the cluster after the recent decision by Air Quality Management Commission to run industry only on Piped Natural Gas (PNG) instead of coal in National Capital Region (NCR). It was declared industry based on use of coal will not be permitted to function in the area and directed to shift working of their units from use of coal to PNG by September 30, 2022. Many textile manufacturing units and dyeing house in Panipat have decided to shift their industrial units to adjoining states U.P and Punjab where there are no restrictions over use of coal. They fear that running industry on PNG will increase the cost of production which will reduce their competitiveness vis a vis other clusters like Gujarat and Punjab. They expressed that already a fierce price war exists between Gujarat and Ludhiana in export as well as domestic markets compelling them to work on nominal margin. Further rise in production cost will hit business badly. According to Maneesh Garg of Young Entrepreneurs Society Panipat, it is not possible to shift industry from use of coal to PNG in such a short notice since timely deliveries is a challenge and exporters have already secured orders from foreign buyers on annual supply basis and they may suffer heavy financial loss as a result of such a short notice, moreover their payments will held up. The manufacturers accused government for making sudden decisions like ban on use of coal in industry, use of diesel generating sets and declaring lock down all of sudden which harm industry due to non-availability of raw material. Panipat textile industry suffered severe economic crisis due to non-availability of yarn last year and has failed to fulfill supply commitments in domestic and export orders. Many entrepreneurs are looking at shifting their units to Kairana and Shamli in Western U.P which are quite near to Panipat from where hundreds of workers are employed at Panipat textile and dyeing industry.
Right Time for Investments in Textile Sector
The increasing requirement for technical textiles due to rapid changes in environment along with increase employment and rise in disposal would lead to enhanced investments in textile sector as per the Minister of State for Textiles Darshana Vikram Jardosh. The minister also said that technical textiles is the way for boosting the economy of the country and its potential to contribute to ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ mission through various flagship missions and schemes of the Centre. K. Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India highlighted the vital role of innovative solutions and research and development (R&D) in driving the technical textiles market in India under its flagship programme National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) during his special address. He was of the view that in coming years various environmental issues will lead to rising in temperatures up to 50 degrees, scarcity of drinking water, and other environmental hazards, and therefore, a proactive roadmap may be thought up for bringing up new high-end low-cost technological interventions in the application areas of technical textiles addressing the issue.
India Creates History as Export Crosses 400BN
For the first time ever exports from India’s merchandise exports increased by 37 per cent to USD 400 billion during April-March 22, 2021-22 against USD 292 billion in 2020-21. Hailing India’s success in achieving its goods export target of USD 400 billion this fiscal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted today that this is a key milestone in India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ journey. The highest ever goods export target was achieved nine days ahead of the March 31 deadline. “India set an ambitious target of USD 400 billion of goods exports and achieves this target for the first time ever. I congratulate our farmers, weavers, MSMEs, manufacturers, exporters for this success. This is a key milestone in our Aatmanirbhar Bharat journey. #LocalGoesGlobal,” PM Modi tweeted. On average, every hour USD 46 million goods are exported, USD 1 billion goods are exported everyday and USD 33 billion every month. On March 7, the Commerce and Industry Minister also said that India’s merchandise exports have reached USD 390 billion till March 14 of the current financial year and would certainly cross USD 400 billion during the year ending March 31, 2022. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman Narendra Goenka said that it was all possible due to the various government incentives to boost manufacturing across sectors and the policy of Made in India for the World. “Indian apparel exports, too, is set to witness exponential growth. The government has prepared the ground for fast growth in apparel sector with schemes like RoSCTL, PLI and PM-MITRA. These will further increase the production, employment and export capacity of one of the largest employing sectors with maximum women workforce.“
