Lowered customs may improve India’s global position in apparel and footwear market
apparel and footwear may become a larger part of the global sourcing for brands like Zara, H&M, Marks and Spencer and Gap with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing a lot of exemptions on import duties of raw materials for apparel and footwear only when they are further exported. Local manufacturers said this will make the Indian produce price competitive in the global market compared to Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, and Southeast Asian nations.
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The winter-wear clothes, that require real down-filling material from duck or goose, are not manufactured much in India. This is because of the lack of raw materials and the cost of production. Due to the lowered customs on these raw materials, industry executives believe that the production, export, and India’s stand at the global competition can henceforth improve.
“By reducing the cost of these raw materials, our exports will become more competitive, and hopefully manufacturing will go up. Secondly, spandex is very largely and commonly used. So that will definitely make our products more competitive and that will open a large opportunity. Thirdly, the duty-free imports of trimmings will again make us much more competitive,” Rahul Mehta, president of Clothing Manufacturers Association told ET.
These raw materials cost 5-7% on an average of the total cost of the product to be exported. This
