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In a veiled criticism of the Modi government, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), a Sangh Pariwar outfit focussing on strengthening self-reliance on the economic front, said there has been huge loss of job in the country despite strong economic indicators in the last few years. SJM National Co-Convener, Satheesh Kumar said there was serious job loss following dumping of cheap Chinese products in the country. “The big reason behind the job loss was the breakdown in the manufacturing industry. Across the country our manufacturing industry, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and traditional sector, incurred a heavy loss and were forced to be close down even when the country was giving strong indicators on the economic front,” he decried.
Industries including the textile industry at Panipat, the cycle and sewing machine industry at Ludhiana, the cracker industry in Sivakasi and the garment industry in Tirupur suffered huge loss despite the government’s ambitious project ‘Make In India’, the supply chain of China’s manufacturing goods was running riot. The economy was stable and economic indicators like Sensex and Nifty indices had crossed the 34,000 and 11,000 marks respectively. The rupee has grown strong and stood at `63.65 per US dollar.
“We are a country of young people. We need maximum jobs to be created. Despite the launching of Make in India project, the current system is not helpful for the country,” Kumar noted. The US model and the Western market model cannot address the country’s unemployment issue. Swadeshi development model is what suited India. “In the Swadeshi concept, the young generation should become entrepreneurs,” he advised. Educated youths should opt for launching Startups, SMEs, and turn to agriculture instead of waiting for a government job or becoming an employee in a private firm 42 per cent of the employment is in the agriculture sector and 58 per cent depend on it. But the income of the farmers is very low as the input cost is very high. It has to be brought down.
The first ever organic cotton certificates in Ethiopia have been distributed to 200 cotton farmers in the country’s Rift Valley region where yield have risen 100 per cent and price per kg of cotton has risen up to 77 per cent. This project is being funded by the fashion reuse charity TRAID, supported by the Pesticide Action Network UK and was delivered in-country by PAN Ethiopia.
The project, launched in 2013, takes place in North Omo, Gamo Gofa Zone in the Arba Minch Zuria and Mirab Abaya Districts of the Southern Ethiopian Rift Valley.
Organic cotton production in some parts of Ethiopia have raised controversy in the past due to accusations of land grabbing issues but this project is based in a different region of the country from where earlier, issues were reported. The venture was started as an integrated pest management (IPM) project. Over 2,800 cotton farmers in Ethiopia are currently involved in this project. Around 200 cotton farmers in Ethiopia are the first ever in the country to receive organic certification of their crop which was overseen by Control Union as part of an on-going project with fashion reuse charity TRAID, Pesticide Action Network UK, and PAN Ethiopia.
The project trains ‘lead’ farmers, who then provide support to 10 ‘follower’ farmers in their area. Farmers are trained in soil and water health, ecological pest management principles and learning to grow other crops along with cotton.
Maria Chenoweth, CEO, TRAID said, “Since 2009, TRAID has committed nearly £1 million to support cotton farmers to stop using hazardous pesticides and use safer more sustainable alternatives. In Ethiopia, the farmers involved in this project will now get the organic premium for their cotton and are the first in the country to do so. It’s a hugely significant moment and the project is well on its way to more farmers becoming accredited.”
Tadesse Amera, Director, PAN Ethiopia says, “The project has helped farmers to achieve yields higher than those in conventional farming and has reduced agro-chemical dependency and its related negative human health and environmental impacts.”
DuPont Industrial Biosciences (DuPont) announced a collaboration with Wools of New Zealand (WoNZ) to create a new platform of yarn for home textiles that will offer enduring performance characteristics with a more sustainable, eco-friendly look. Bringing together world-leading source traceability and patented technology from WoNZ with DuPont’s global leadership in bio-sustainable, high-performance materials inspired this collaboration of expertise and products, scheduled for release in 2018.
DuPont Sorona Global Segment Leader John Sagrati noted, “Wools of New Zealand is truly a leader in responsible wool supply. This level of care, along with their devotion to innovation and quality control is exactly what we at DuPont seek in partners, They occupy a premium position in their market and have a proven track record of performance and sustainability with the unique capability to deliver consistent, tailored fibres.”
WoNZ Chief Executive Rosstan Mazey said, “We are genuinely excited to partner with DuPont Industrial Biosciences, a business that has been able to bring biomaterials to market on a commercial-scale. Like us, DuPont is committed to delivering added value innovation without compromising the planet or its inhabitants. The combined resources and know-how in order to create this exciting, brand-new yarn is a perfect fit with our mission to change the game through innovation and to connect the people who grow our fiber with the end consumer.”
DuPont’s industry-leading excellence in the biomaterials industry has received a number of accolades, including the Platts Global Energy “Breakthrough Solution of the Year” award for a partnership with ADM on a novel process to produce FDME from fructose; Frost & Sullivan’s award for 2017 European Company of the Year Award for bio-based materials; and most recently, PLASTICS’ 2017 Innovation in Bioplastics Award.
The upcoming Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) election took a dramatic twist after a new platform emerged to contest in the poll to ensure that leaders of the trade body are not selected arbitrarily. The platform, Swadhinata Parishad, unveiled its nine members at a press briefing in Dhaka. The garment sector's apex trade body was all set to get a new set of leaders through favouritism and not by ballot.
Shahidul Islam, Managing Director, Rupa Group and a former Vice-President of the BGMEA, was set to be formally announced on March 7 as the new president for the next two years. The convener of Swadhinata Parishad is Md Jahangir Alam, MD of Design and Source.
The other members are: Md Aminul Islam of Venix Bangladesh; Shahidur Rahman of Nova Apparels; Golam Mowla Chowdhury of Parents Sweater; Omar Faruk of Alliance Apparels; Ayesha Akhtar of Way Mart Apparels; Mahmud Hossain of DK Global Fashion; Ansarul Alam Lincon of Azra Enterprise; and Humayun Rashid Jony of Olira Fashion.
In a statement, the platform said the BGMEA has become an ineffective organisation as the leadership of the association has not been decided by ballot for a long time. “As a result, general members are being deprived of proper services and are facing harassment and negligence in some cases,” it noted. Swadhinata Parishad has decided participate in the election to choose leaders through direct member votes.
The Karnataka government has given the green signal to Kerala-based Kitex Garments to invest Rs 493 crore for a ready-made garments unit for infants in Hassan, Karnataka. The chairman and Managing Director of Kitex Garments, Sabu M Jacob, disclosed, “The government of Karnataka has given approval to the project. Now depending on how fast the government clearances comes through, the project will start.
Our plan is to start commercial production by March 2019.”At a recent meeting, Karnataka’s State Level Single Window Clearance Committee cleared 52 new projects valued at Rs 5,233.82 crore. Of this, investments valued at Rs 2,369.56 crore are approved for Bengaluru.
A release from the State Information Department noted, “An investment of Rs 2,864.26 crore has been approved for places outside Bengaluru. This reiterates the constant endeavour of the government to have overall industrial development of the State.” Jacob said the garments unit would be located in a steel building which would be imported from the Gulf — most likely Saudi Arabia. It will be nut-and-bolts job and would be set up very fast.
“Initially, the unit will have capacity of 1,500 to 2,000 people. In Phase 1, it will produce up to 2-lakh pieces of infant garments. After that, we will expand every six months. We intend to complete the expansion by 2021,” he disclosed. Andhra Pradesh is also luring Kitex Garments to take the company’s investment to that State by offering various sops to the company. The Andhra Pradesh government has given some very compelling proposals to invest in that State. For instance, it has offered free land, support in setting up the building, power at Rs 1 per unit and salary for the staff for three years, he informed.
Trident which has over 300 MBOs in India, is one of the largest exporters of home textile products from India. Trident exports to over 100 countries across six continents with clients like Target, Ralph Lauren, JC Penney, IKEA, Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Sears, Sam’s Club, Taj, Oberoi Hotels, Sheraton Hotels, ITC Hotels and DMart. In FY17, 55 per cent of the brands net revenue was contributed by exports. In the bath and bed linen segment, 89 per cent of net revenue was accounted for by exports, primarily to the US as the domestic market is led by unorganised players.
The brand held 13 per cent share (of India’s 40 per cent share in CY16) in international towel exports to the US, while its share in Indian towel exports to that country was 32 per cent. As bed linen capacity is speeded up, the company aims to gain share in the US bed linen market by leveraging its existing client base from the terry towels segment.
Trident is focussed at achieving Rs 1,000-crore sales from the home textiles business in the domestic market by 2020 and double the segment’s contribution by up to 20 per cent. The company is considering adding new products, including rugs and pillows as it aims to be a complete home textile brand, besides expanding the retail network here.
The brand is set to achieve these by adding new categories and enhancing brand presence. The company gets 70 per cent of its sales from the US market, 20 per cent from the rest of the world and 10 per cent from the domestic market in the bed and bath linen segment.
Gradually as they will increase market share in India the shift will then be 60-65 per cent from the US market, 20- 25 per cent from Europe and the rest of the world and around 15-20 per cent from the domestic market in the next 2-3 years.
Sweden-based H&M has apologized for what many said was an insensitive association between the young model and a hateful slur against black people. It stated it had removed it from all its marketing. The advertisement was widely criticised for being racist, including by Canadian pop star The Weekend, who collaborated with H&M, the world's second-largest clothing group, on two collections in 2017. The company would not again after seeing the advertisement.
The word 'monkey' has long been used by some as a racial slur. Models for Diversity, a British-based organization advocating for more inclusion in the fashion industry, was one of many groups questioning how the photo made it through marketing teams and out into the world.
An official delegation from South Korea and the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) signed a MoU for co-operation between industries in Gujarat and the East Asian country, with a key focus on the automobile, defence and textiles sectors. The South Korean delegation was led by the country's Consul General in Mumbai, Kim Soungeun.
The key objective of the MoU is to help Gujarat-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) explore opportunities through joint ventures with South Korean firms, mainly in areas of automobile, defence and textiles, said GCCI president Shailesh Patwari. "We import lubricants and auto parts for industry. Now that Gujarat is becoming an auto hub, JVs with Korean companies will help our SMEs. Our intention is also to support our SMEs in manufacture of defence equipment with the help of Korean companies," Patwari noted.
Korean companies are offering technical help to the textile industry in Gujarat to reduce costs and help them compete with Bangladesh and China and improve the ready-made apparel trade, he added.
Bangladesh has the potential to spiral up its annual garment export to $5 billion to China, says analysts. The country’s RMG sector is pampered with duty-free export facilities to China. Siddiqur Rahman, President, BGMEA says they are trying to grab a huge share of China’s local market. China has a population of 1.35 billion, including an increasing middle-class income people, who can be the best buyers of Bangladeshi products. Siddiqur also said his association has not yet drawn up strategies but has made a plan to enhance annual garment export to China to touch $5 billion over the next three to five years. Currently, the country’s RMG export to China is small. In fiscal 2016-17, the country notched $391.59 million from apparel export to China, which is 14.77 per cent year-on-year rise, as per data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
The export to China in FY 2015-16 was $341.22 million and $304.94 million in the previous fiscal. Mirza Azizul Islam, Finance Adviser of the former caretaker government, says China is the best destination but Bangladesh should also take steps to expand its market to the US and Europe. Bangladesh is now getting duty-free privilege in Chinese market and a sound G2G policy. Now, the exporters should focus on the market demand and boost the supply.
As per a recent study conducted by Switzerland-based International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), by end 2020, China would produce $750 billion worth of garments against $300 billion produced now, half for exports and the remaining for domestic consumption.
Currently, China is exporting 20 per cent of the garments it produces after meeting 80 per cent of the local demand. Statistics reveal that the remaining 20 per cent will be valued at around $200 billion by the end of 2020, as the country will have more than half a billion middle-class consumers. Seeing the huge potential market, the BGMEA has decided to enter the Chinese local market.
To promote apparel clusters and enhance exports, the Ludhiana-based apparel industry will seek the Centre’s assistance in setting up a Common Facility Centre (CFC). The facility will house state-of-the-art machinery such as a design studio, quality control facility etc, which member units cannot afford to acquire individually. The proposed CFC would be promoted through a special purpose vehicle.
SS Bedi, Cluster Development Manager, Ludhiana Apparel Cluster says, Ludhiana is one of the prominent hubs for the apparel sector in the country. The city has over 12,000 units manufacturing knitwear, winter wear and shirts but these clusters do not have any CFC to address the issues confronting the apparel industry. The industry is beset with issues such as obsolete technology and quality. To give a boost to this sector we will propose to the Ministry of MSME to grant a CFC. Under the Micro and Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programme, the Ministry can support the entrepreneurs with a grant from 70 to 90 per cent of the cost for setting up the CFC.
The CFC will be managed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV). About 25 members have been identified for the SPV. After the formation of SPV, detailed diagnostic study report (DSR) will be submitted to the Ministry for the financial assistance to be sanctioned under the cluster development programme.
Most of the manufacturing processes of member units would be completed at the cluster. The cluster would take care of manufacturing using latest machines, designing and product testing. Under the scheme, member units would be given an opportunity to exit their unit if they learn the processes and manage to set up the required machinery.
Ludhiana-based garment manufacturers are already facing a stiff competition from imported garments, especially from Bangladesh where production cost is lower. In such a scenario, the setting up of the CFC will assist them in acquiring cost-effective products and new designs of superior quality.
