India's denim industry to cross Rs 54,000 crore in 5 yrs

The Rs 30,000-crore Indian denim industry, which has been growing 15 per cent annually for the last five years, is expected to be worth Rs 54,600 crore by 2023, according to experts.

"Denim revolution started in India in 80s and 90s which gradually shifted to lifestyle and more so fashion of late. With 7.4 percent of India's GDP growth and USD 1,362 per capita income, India continues to be one of the largest producers of denim in the world," Reliance Brands business head - Diesel & GAS - Deval Shah said during the session "New Opportunities in Denim" at the 32nd IAF World Fashion Convention here.

The two-day International Apparel Fashion (IAF) concluded here on Wednesday and was jointly organised by the Clothing Manufacturers' Association of India (CMAI) with support from Union Ministry of Textiles and Union Ministry of Commerce.

"With the emergence of denim demand from Bangladesh to which India exports huge quantity, Indian businesses have doubled installed capacity denim to 1.3 billion meters per annum over the last five years with an estimated investment of Rs 60 crore per million meters," Shah said.

Number of denim manufacturers has almost doubled to 42 now from 25 five years ago. But around 30 percent of this capacity remained idle due to excess production capacity.

"India is selling cheapest pair of jeans which nowhere in the world is available. If we bring down the price of jeans to USD 10 a piece as is currently prevailing in the US, India's denim demand would increase resulting into this sector's growth at 20 per cent per annum," Subir Mukherjee, business head (Denim) Bhaskar Industries said.

"Brands are getting disturbed due to rapid change in fashion and technology," added Manjula Tiwari, CEO of Future Style Lab.

The convention witnessed participation from all leading brands in apparel and denim sectors with over 500 participants from all across the world.