Few buyers at Delhi Intl Garment Fair

Devendra Baid of Welfit Exports, who has come to the fair from Kolkata expecting new buyers to expand his business was a bit dejected this time. The reason being few buyers especially from European countries.

“I have been coming to this fair every year for almost a decade. It has provided a platform to me to find buyers for my products and expand my business, but this year we are finding it difficult to find same number of buyers as in previous years,” Baid told Deccan Herald.

Another exporter Nivesh Kumar, owner of Naresh International, who exports Silk and Cotton garments echoed the same. He said that economic recession in Europe has affected his business. Kumar said that though he found a few buyers this year from South American countries such as Brazil and Chile, the amount of order was not as much he used to get from Europe. Notably, US and European Union account for about 80 per cent of the country's total apparel exports.

Though exporters find it hard to get buyers for their products, Textiles Secretary Rita Menon has fixed a target of achieving US$ 14 billion in garment exports in 2011-12. Menon reasons that this target has been fixed keeping rising demand in western markets.

According to Menon, government has taken several measures to boost apparel exports. Menon said that besides several other schemes, Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) would be a major driving force for exports growth. Under TUFS government subsidises 5 per cent of interest payments on loans sanctioned under the scheme.