Bangladeshi Garment Exports To India Fall 22% In July-March
Exports of garments from Bangladesh to India fell to US $645.18 million between July and March of fiscal 2023-24, down 22.31 percent from $830.51 million in same period of previous fiscal.
Exports of garments to India dropped despite overseas shipments rising to other non-traditional markets, sata of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said.
In the first nine months of ongoing fiscal, knitwear exports to India declined to $267.01 million, a fall of 25.90 percent year on year and woven garment exports fell 19.57 percent to $378.17 million.
Exporters attribute the shrinking demand from India to the growing influence of ‘self-reliant India’ campaign.
They also quoted challenges at home like rising production costs due to energy price hikes and erratic gas supply and recent wage hikes, which is eroding competitiveness of the Bangladesh garment sector.
“However, in the same period, clothing exports to major non-traditional markets like Japan, Australia, Russia, Korea, China and UAE grew between 6 and 59 percent,” the Financial Express reported.
“India has been expanding its domestic apparel manufacturing capacity to meet both internal and external demand,” Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, Proprietor of Fatullah Apparels Limited said.
“The Indian government is providing policy support to businesses, such as those in Gujarat, which have increased fabric production capacity over the years,” Ehsan added.
Exporters said the data of exports to India reflect the true scenario of the industry as many factories could not utilise half their capacity due to a lack of work orders.
Bangladeshi garment exports to India crossed the one-billion dollar mark in fiscal 2022-23, and reached a record high of $1.01 billion, up 41.58 percent over fiscal 2021-22.
