Coimbatore April 13

Export of textiles and clothing from India to major markets is sliding on account of strong rupee. The worried textile exporters have urged the Central Government to intervene so that the country does not lose its share in the world textile markets due to the low realisation in rupee terms.

The sharp appreciation in the rupee vis-à-vis dollar witnessed in the past nine months has resulted in slowdown in textile/clothing exports from India, said Mr Prem Malik, Chairman of the Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (Texprocil). The value of rupee, according to him, rose to Rs 42.65 to a dollar as on April 9, 2007 compared to Rs 46.51 in August 2006, an increase of 9 per cent. This rise had a direct bearing on export realisation leading to a slowdown in exports.

He said in the case of the US, while textile imports from India for the year ending January 2007 had grown by only 5 per cent, imports from China, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Cambodia for the same period rose by 27 per cent, 26 per cent 20 per cent and 23 per cent respectively. The consistently undervalued yuan had led to China's strong presence in textiles and clothing products in major markets. China could achieve 27 per cent growth in exports to the US despite restrictions on its products imposed by the latter.

Even as the appreciating rupee was making the country's exports uncompetitive, textile exporters were being further burdened by high production costs caused by high interests costs, pressure on prices and growing costs of inputs, Mr Malik pointed out.

Taken from Business Line

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