India’s garment exports declined marginally by about one per cent to $1 billion in April this year owing to weak demand in European markets.
“Though apparel shipments have dipped marginally in April due to less number of orders from traditional markets, we expect the exports to grow between 10-15 per cent in the current fiscal as exporters are exploring new markets,” said Mr A Sakthivel, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council.
He said the demand is picking up in the US market. The US and Europe together account for about 65 per cent of country’s total garment exports.
To reduce dependence on western markets like Europe, exporters are diversifying to new markets like Japan, Russia and South Africa.
During 2011-12, apparel exports grew about 18 per cent year-on-year to $13.6 billion.