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Tuesday, 28 June 2011 |
 Like all previous years, this year too, the Clothing Manufacturers’ Association of India (CMAI) organized the National Garment Fair in Mumbai from 20 to 22 June. This was the 53rd edition of the fair. In the inaugural speech of NGF, Rita Menon,
Textile Secretary, assured manufacturers of all possible support from the government, including financial support to apparel companies. She even promised the industry she would put up astrong case before the finance ministry for the removal of 10 per cent mandatory excise duty.
 Discussing the government’s game plan to generate more revenue from the industry, she said that the Centre has given consent to 25 new textile parks. At present there are 40 textile parks which together generate more than Rs 29,000 crores per annum. During the 12th Five Year plan, the government may look at increasing the size of the Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) by 25 per cent with more incentives to the processing sector. “I am very enthusiastic about it and feel it will exceed growth rates of 20 per cent in 2011-12 with the sort of policy we have put in place. We are virtually going to offset the cost for consultancy and incubation. We expect technical textile to pan out with our eight centers of excellence and a lot of money and commitment that the government has put in,” said Menon.
Rahul Mehta, President of CMAI, pointed out that the garment industry was facing rough weather with high raw material prices and 10 per cent excise duty. He said he had very high expectations that the fair would break the overall gloomy mood of the industry. However, Ashok Shah, Chairman of the fair sub-committee, was more optimistic. He felt the performance of the industry would not go down because of the excise duty. “We are expecting more bookings due to the upcoming festive season,” he said.
With 300 exhibitors displaying their festive garment collections and 12,000 visitors the fair this year was a huge success. Ashfaq Sakarwalla,CEO, shirt brand Recardo who has been putting up a stall for the last 10 years said the response was phenomenal. “Our brand has been growing due to the CMAI fair. The kind of footfalls we have been receiving has been good for our business. Year-on-year there has been good growth in the number of visitors. Bookings were good and met our expectations. Due to the excise duty, business had slowed down initially, but now it’s gaining again, as people have started spending on apparels.” Anil Bhardwaj of O-live Shirts said “This fair is a useful platform for us to gain market presence. I am happy with the kind of footfalls. All my expectations have been met.” Saumar Sharma, Business Head, Camaro Jeans summed up by saying, “The CMAI fair has always been a good platform for us to build relationships with a large number of retailers. We are denim manufacturers and are gradually expanding to the north. This fair gives us a good signal for winter selling.”
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