India's textile, apparel sector on cusp of turnaround: CITI

India's textile and apparel sector is on the verge of a turnaround, with apparel exports estimated to grow 7 per cent in the current financial year, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industries said today.

As per the data by the DGCI&S, exports of textiles and apparel increased by 11 per cent in July 2018 to Rs 19,636 crore over the same month last year, said Sanjay Jain, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industries (CITI).

The Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics (DGCI&S) under the commerce ministry is responsible for collection, compilation and dissemination of the country's trade statistics and commercial information.

The overall growth in exports during Apr-July 2018 has been 3 per cent vis-a-vis same period last year. Further, the man-made fibre segment, which is expected to be the growth driver of the industry in the coming years has seen rise in production.

Imports growth in the sector has come down significantly, according to CITI.

"While the imports of T&C (Textiles and Clothing) rose from USD 1.78 billion in April-June 2017 to US$ 1.87 billion in the same period this year, an increase of 5 per cent, it is significantly lower than the growth of 16 per cent last year. The measures taken by the government to increase the import duty on various textile and apparel items will help in further reducing the imports in coming months," Jain said.

As per RBI Financial Stability Report- June 2018, the stressed advance ratio of textile sub-sector has also improved from 23.7 per cent in September 2017 to 22.3 per cent in March 2018, indicating signs of recovery, Jain noted.

"We anticipate the textile and apparel exports to grow by 7 per cent while imports to stay flat in this 2018-19," he said.