Significant ramp up in capacities to help achieve $40 bn exports target

Steps such as significant ramp up in production capacities, and skilling of workforce will help achieve $40 billion garment exports target by 2030

Steps such as significant ramp up in production capacities, and skilling of workforce will help achieve USD 40 billion garment exports target by 2030, AEPC said on Tuesday.

Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (AEPC) Chairman Sudhir Sekhri said skilled workers like tailors and quality checkers are still not sufficient as during the peak season they go to their native villages thereby creating shortage.

"Our target to reach USD 40 billion of RMG (readymade garments) export by 2030 can be a reality and my duty is to take every possible step to reach this target," Sekhri said.

He said "we need to ramp up our capacities as the export houses in India are still unable to handle core/basic products which are required in huge quantities".

He added that the council is also focused on skilling the workforce.

"We are creating about 150,000 skilled workers every year but it is still not enough. To attain the growth that we are targeting, we need to empower our workforce with skills," he added.

Further the council said the Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC) has recently organised distribution of degrees to its students of Bachelor of Vocation (BVoc) degree course.

"ATDC's degree programmes, which were started in 2015, have gained momentum. By and large, 10 per cent of ATDC candidates start their own manufacturing set-up, around 8 per cent pursue further studies and the remaining 82 per cent go for employment in the industry," the council said.

Rakesh Vaid, Senior Vice-Chairman, ATDC, said the centre is helping create a pool of skilled manpower to the industry.