Silk exporters target exports of $800 million in FY10

With early signs of recovery in the US and Europe, the traditional markets for Indian goods, silk traders have stepped up the export target at $800 million for this fiscal.

"Keeping in view the national policy objectives of 15 per cent annual exports growth a target of $800 million has been fixed for this financial year," an official of Indian Silk Export Promotion Council (ISEPC) said.

This was despite the fact that the 2008-09 silk export target of ISEPC of $753 million could not be achieved due to contraction in global demand.

Silk exports, including items like garments, natural silk yarn, fabrics, scarves and carpets, stood at $704.6 million in last fiscal.

However, with the fall in contraction of exports to 19 per cent in August from a high of about 33 per cent in March trade experts feel that demand is picking up in the western markets.

The US is the major export market of silk items, contributing about 16 per cent in India's earnings from the product, followed by the UK, the UAE, Italy and Germany.

Earlier, the Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran had said India's silk export is likely to touch Rs 7,000 crore (about $1.5 billion) by 2012.

Meanwhile, to diversify the textiles exports and reduce dependence on the EU and the US, new markets like Latin America, Africa and Oceania regions are being explored by the Indian exporters.