Knitwear exports from Tirupur grew by 12 per cent in 2015-16 compared to the previous year.  The share of Tirupur knitwear exports in India’s total garment exports is 20 per cent. Exporters want a one-time long term initiative to be undertaken to uplift the skill proficiency of existing laborers in order to increase productivity at par with competing countries and at the same time reduce waste.

Limping back on a slow-but-promising western order recovery and robust domestic consumption, Tirupur is pursuing another growth cycle. The cluster sees protective wear, sports garments and defense-related businesses as obvious lines, given its huge spinning capacities.

Entrepreneurs want to wean themselves away from the fickle western apparel market to focus more on avenues of sustainable business like technical textiles or medical textiles and specialised products such as car upholstery.

The cluster was recently the beneficiary of a Rs 6000-crore textile package, manufacturing parks, and private water supply for entrepreneurs. Now entrepreneurs feel they deserve to have a knitwear board, on the lines of the one for jute in Kolkata, so that policies are framed to favor them. They also want sponsors to conduct training programs.

The industry has been through booms and lulls and prolonged slackness in export orders, besides troubles closer home with hundreds of dyeing units found to have improper effluent treatment mechanisms forced to shut down.