New Delhi, Apr 9 (KNN) Indian apparel exporters, aspiring to have a slice of 200 billion dollars global manmade fibre (MMF) garment trade, have sought help from international MMF fabric suppliers to overcome the shortage of the fabric, in the short run, and also to improve the quality of local production of the fabric eventually.

Speaking at a webinar on ‘MMF Fabric Sourcing from International Suppliers’, hosted by Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), AEPC Chairman Dr A Sakthivel said that the country needs to import MMF fabric from international suppliers to increase MMF manufacturing in India.

“Initially we want to import fabric from you all and we expect it at international price, so that we can manufacture MMF garments and export out of India. Besides, we are also interested to have investment in fabric processing in India,” Dr Sakthivel said to the participating MMF suppliers from China and Taiwan.

The Chairman said that India has abundant production of yarn but is in short supply of good quality MMF fabric as domestic producers lack the latest processing technologies.

“We are ready for a joint venture or technology transfer or 100 per cent investment. There are production facilities in India but do not have the latest technologies in processing. Even the government has come out with good incentives like plans to set up seven mega textile parks and production linked incentives (PLI) to promote MMF production.

“AEPC will make all arrangements to facilitate any technology transfer, joint venture or direct investment in the country,” Dr Sakthivel assured the international MMF fabric suppliers who expressed their interest in knowing the details about the benefits offered by the Indian government and what AEPC could do to help them out.

India’s export of MMF garments constitute only 10 per cent of its total apparel exports, which was about 16 billion dollars in 2019-20. In the calendar year 2019, India imported 442 million dollars worth of MMF fabric. AEPC, which sees future growth dependent on success in the MMF segment, has been taking initiatives to improve availability of MMF fabric.

Vinit Neb, Director, TR Alliance Co Ltd, Taiwan, said, “We are in every part of the value chain as this ensures efficiency and productivity. We do knowledge management continuously – learn from old orders, new orders and new things that enter the market and enhance our offerings.”    

May, Business Head, Wuyue Textile Group, China, said, “We are vertical suppliers and exporters doing weaving, dyeing and printing. We sell a lot of quality, sustainable, fashionable and innovative fabrics to buyers all over the world. We look forward to hearing about the requirements of Indian manufacturers.”   

Mukesh Sharma, Head (Sales), HAE FA Textile Group, Taiwan, said, “We have manufacturing plants in three countries – Taiwan, China and Vietnam. All have their specialties in fabric like Taiwan is majorly for high end sportswear and functional fabrics. We are supplying to almost all major textile countries.”

Girish Shah, Director, Chang Zhou Miao Zhou Trading Co Ltd, China, said, “We are mostly in woven and high quality items. As we have our own factory, we can keep developing new things, doing all the blend items there. We are shipping 90 per cent of our fabric to Bangladesh and 10 per cent to India.”

The fabric suppliers took the opportunity to showcase some of their best MMF fabrics, talked about their specialties, usage in different garments and seasons, popularity in different markets and how they supplied to the biggest brands in the world.