The crisis in Bangladesh is expected to impact the Indian textile and apparel sector in the short term.
Siddhartha Rajagopal, the Executive Director of Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, said $1.7-billion worth of cotton, cotton yarn and fabrics were exported by India to Bangladesh last fiscal, which is 17% of India’s cotton textile exports.
Bangladesh exported cotton garments worth $1-billion in FY23. There were reports of trucks stranded on either side of the border with textile and garment goods. “Normalcy should return to see how the business will evolve. There are nearly 30 Indian textile companies that have facilities in Bangladesh,” he said.
International brands would wait and watch and may look at additional sourcing points. India should position itself to tap the opportunity, he said.
According to the Apparel Export Promotion Council, it is quite likely that garment orders may shift to India in the short term and the Indian apparel industry may be asked to fill the gap caused by the disruption.
Prabhu Dhamodharan, convenor of Indian Texpreneurs Federation, said Bangladesh exports $3.8 billion worth of garments a month as against $ 1.3 billion by India. It is said that the factories in Bangladesh had been asked to reopen next week. While Indian garment units may gain in the short term, normalcy should return to Bangladesh as it is one of the largest buyers of Indian yarn and fabrics. “While we are concerned about the impact on the supply chain and the potential delays and disruptions it might cause, we are hopeful that the situation will improve soon,” the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry said in a press statement.
