INDIA: Only Govt can pump vitality in textile sector with good policies
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has denoted about a 2.2% decline in the growth of global market for 2009. With the mounting pressures of recession major countries are in the loop of negative growth. Export orders are declining, and buyers are canceling their earlier orders or re-scheduling the shipments. Further they are also requesting an extended credit period to tackle the credit crunch. India's exports to countries like US and EU is experiencing a declining trend, whereas its counterparts are comparatively expanding their global markets.
The packages announced by the Indian Government were not adequate to ride the tide. Initiatives were taken by the Government like fiddling with the Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate, and Cash Reserve Ratio with the expectation that it would provide liquidity to the economy. Unfortunately, as the recession had already set in, the efforts only proved futile. 7,00,000 jobs were axed, and 1,00,000 jobs are expected to be lost, every month for the next three months.
Industry analysts predict that textile and garment industry has good potential to add 5 million direct and 12 million indirect jobs. Then, the export potential will soar upto $50 billion comprising 6% of the global trade. The domestic market would also grow from $30 billion to $60 billion. All this is only possible with adequate support of the Government. It should come up with required policy measures to inject the much needed vitality to our textile and garment industry before it collapses beyond retrieval.
Added: March 9, 2009 Source: Agencies