India's textile and garment exports will rise 17.6 per cent in the current fiscal from a year before but will still miss the target of $43 billion despite the depreciation in the rupee. Textile and garment exports hit $20.43 billion in April-December, up 13.4 per cent from a year ago period. Exports are expected to touch $40 billion in 2013-14 from $34 billion a year ago, mainly on higher shipments of garments, cotton yarn, fabrics and manmade fiber. 

While rupee depreciation helped, the rise in demand in the US despite a slow or fragile recovery resulted in a surge in exports. Moreover, demand from new markets also helped. Having slid by nearly 6 per cent in the last fiscal and seeing a drop in 10 months of 2012-13, garment exports started picking up since March as the domestic currency continued to fall. Soaring costs in China and problems in compliance of global safety norms at Bangladeshi mills helped India's export grow. 

The rupee depreciated 11.6 per cent between April and December this fiscal compared to year ago, to an average of 60.79, making shipments remunerative.