After a relatively satisfactory performance in the first half of 2003, i.e., January-June, apparel exports started sliding. There was a decline in july. Figures for August have come in and exports to quota countries are down 5.75% in value and 9.28% in volume. While the value declined from US$331.9 million to US$$312.8 million, the volume was down from 81.9 million to 74.3 million units. Though there had been reasonable growth in the first five months of the current fiscal year (April-August), it is clear that SARS did have an effect on India's exports.
These figures include exports to quota restricted countries only, but non-quota exports have been sliding for several years now, and the overall picture is likely to be less encouraging than the quota export scenario.
Exports of all textile products including cotton yarn, fabrics and made-ups, besides synthetic and blended textiles and readymade garments, as well as handlooms, declined by about 2.93% in the three month period April-June 2003, to US$2,551 million. The overall scenario raises serious questions about competitiveness in the quota-free environment due on January 1, 2005. While the textile industry may not face severe problems in a quota-free environment, the apparel industry may undergo some serious crisis.
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