INDIA’S LARGEST APPAREL B2B TRADE SHOW TO BE HELD IN MUMBAI: CMAI’S 69th NATIONAL GARMENT FAIR FROM JULY 15th to 18th JULY 2019
FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, 1062 BRANDS, 882 EXHIBITORS TO SHOWCASE THEIR LATEST FESTIVE COLLECTIONS ALL UNDER ONE ROOF.
The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) is organizing “India’s Largest Apparel Trade Show – The 69th National Garment Fair” from 15TH July to 18th July 2019 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, NSE Complex, Goregaon (East), Mumbai.
The Association has Invited the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis, to Inaugurate the Fair on Monday, 15th July 2019 at 11.00 A.M. A Confirmation is awaited from the Chief Minister’s Office.
Mr. Rahul Mehta, President, The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (Ex-Chairman, International Apparel Federation), stated that this B2B Fair will be spread over Approx. 7,00,000 Square Feet, covering all the Halls at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, with 882 Exhibitors showcasing 1062 Brands. This will be India’s Largest Ever Garment Fair held so far. The Fair will display leading Brands in Men’s wear, Women’s wear, Kid’s wear and Accessories. CMAI will also publish the ‘Show Directory’, popularly known as the Fair Guide. Approximately 50,000 Retailers & Trade Visitors from all over India are expected to visit this Fair.
The 69th National Garment Fair will be held over 4 Days . The Fair timing will be from 10 AM to 9 PM. This B2B Fair will be open only to Trade Visitors & Garment Retailers. The Business Networking Sessions between the Exhibitors and Agents & Distributors, will also continue this year.
The total size of Indian Apparel Industry was estimated to be around Rs. 2,50,000 Crore for the Domestic Market. Out of this, Organized Market was Rs. 74250 Crore (30%), whereas Unorganized Market was Rs175,750 Crore (70%).
The provisions of the recent Budget announced by the Government especially those pertaining to additional support for the MSME Sector, interest subvention, additional Credit flow, and increased Turn Over cap for the Corporate Tax of 25% – should provide a boost for Domestic Manufacturers. However, the decision to relax norms of Local Sourcing for Single Brand Retail will have a negative impact on domestic manufacturing. FDI into this segment may however go up as a result of this move.
Mr. Rahul Mehta, President ,CMAI stated that the regime of GST completed 2 Years, and CMAI thanks the Government and in particular the GST Council for its responsive and supportive approach to all the suggestions of the Industry during this period. The Industry has more or less settled down with the new regime, and the only major request continues to be our proposal to have a single uniform tax rate of 5% across the Textile Value Chain, irrespective of the product or process.
The biggest problem facing the Domestic Garment manufacturers today is the unrestricted Duty Free imports from Bangladesh, and the back door entry of Chinese Fabrics via Bangladesh.
India has an FTA with Bangladesh, whereby Garments can be exported without any payment of Duty in to India. In the absence of any Rules of Origin, Bangladesh manufacturers are importing duty free fabrics from China, converting them in to Garments, and exporting in to India – thereby virtually providing duty free access to Indian markets for Chinese Fabrics.
It is important to note that Imports of Garments from Bangladesh has been growing at the rate of 82% over last year, and 161% over 2016-17, and has now reached US$365 million. IF THIS CONTINUES, AND OUR FORECAST IS THAT IT WILL ONLY GROW FASTER, IMPORTS OF GARMENTS FORM BANGLADESH WILL TOUCH US$3.6 BILLION BY 2024-25.
Ironically, exports of Garments from India into Bangladesh is subject to a net duty of almost 125%.
CMAI has urged the Government to act immediately on this as if this growth of imports continue, the Industry is set to lose 10 lakh jobs by 2025.
Exports of Readymade Garments is of immense significance to the Economy of the Nation. India’s Textiles & Clothing Exports declined from $ 38.60 Billion in 2014 to $ 37.12 Billion in 2018, while Imports increased from $ 5.85 Billion to $ 7.31 Billion during the same Period.
India slipped to the 5th position amongst Garment &Textile Exports in 2018 from the 2nd position it enjoyed during the 2014 -17 Period.
Apparel Exports took a hit with the introduction of GST in July 2017, as Duty Drawback Rates were sharply Reduced. The Industry took some time to adjust to the New regime. Consequently, for the 1st time in its history, the Industry posted Negative Growth Year on Year. FY 17-18 total Exports were 16.7 billion Dollars which Reduced to US$ 16.1 billion Dollars in 18-19 recording a net drop of approx. 3.5% in Dollar terms. However, the heartening part was that from October 2018, there has been a recovery and Exports have steadily Increased since then.
I am happy to Report that, even for the first two months of FY 19-20, there is a Growth Month on month of Approx. 9% over the Previous Year. In a large measure, the revival in Apparel Exports is due to the proactive support from the Government which Recognizes the huge Employment potential of the Industry and has ensured all support.
Mr. Rahul Mehta further stated “ I feel that we are finally turning the corner after stagnancy or de-growth. China is continuing to move out of the labour intensive and low value industries, Bangladesh is becoming increasingly expensive – though it is still cheaper than India, Vietnam is showing signs of reaching the peak of its Capacity, and emerging sourcing zones such as Myanmar and Africa have not yet made significant progress. All these factors, along with increased support from the Government, are helping India’s exports to look up after several years.
Some of the recent Reforms including Reduction in Cost delivered by a Refund of the Central & State Taxes, new Benefits under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and Renewed 2% Duty Drawback made the Industry more Competitive.
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Within the Clothing and Fashion Category, over 3 Lakh Retailers across 900+ Cities access the Platform for over 11 Lakh Product listings. Over 80 Thousand active Credit lines brings reach and scale to Customers. The Objective is to enable Transparency, Accessibility, Affordability and National Reach.
