Entrepreneurs in Surat are foraying into manufacture of semi-stitched garments like suit dupattas and salwar kameez. These are in demand in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra. Surat is the country’s largest man-made fabric hub. It has some 250 units employing over 62,000 garment workers. The monthly output of the units is pegged at over four lakh garments. The unit owners have been hiring professional designers from Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi for manufacturing garments based on trends in the country and abroad.

There is a huge scope for business in the semi-stitched garment segment. Since the last few years, the trend of semi-stitched garments has picked up as customers like to further stitch their garments according to their body posture, size and length. Of late, many weaving unit owners have forayed into the semi-stitched segment as profit margins are quite good.

Around 80 per cent of salwar kameez and suit dupattas are supplied to Delhi and Punjab. Gone are the days when women purchased plain fabric. Now they want semi-stitched garments. In fact, apparel and garment units are not viable in a city like Surat which is a purely polyester-based center and has high labor costs but the semi-stitched segment is doing well.