After seeing a fall for three months in a row, readymade garment exports from India rose by 25 per cent in rupee terms and 30 per cent in dollar terms in September. The increase is attributed mainly to the upcoming Christmas season in western markets. The other factor is inventories piled up due to GST are now being cleared.

Of the total readymade garment exports, 52 per cent is woven and 48 per cent is knitwear. The sector started the year in April with 27.60 per cent growth in rupee terms and a 31.65 per cent increase in dollar terms. But in the following month growth in rupee terms was only 3.84 per cent.

Garment exports this year are expected to surpass last year’s total exports as, generally, exports tend to grow in the second half. January to March are the crucial months for readymade garment exports. Around 30 per cent to 40 per cent of exports have taken place during these three months in the last few years.

Customers are sourcing from India as a part of a de-risking strategy. Customers have also started asking for a reduction in price after the rupee started strengthening against the dollar. Exporters have been under enormous stress in the last few months due to uncertainty over the duty drawback scheme which was brought down from 7.7 per cent to two per cent. Exporters were also hit due to the reduction in ROSL to one per cent from 3.5 per cent earlier. In addition to that the prolonged confusion over GST rates on knitwear and textile garments also cast a shadow on exports and overall the industry lost five per cent growth in the first six months. Tirupur saw a marginal growth in the first six months to around Rs 13,000 crores as compared to Rs 12,550 crores in the same period last fiscal.