Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) and Tiruppur Exporters' Association (TEA) will jointly organise an engagement meet for brands and SME manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu.

This was disclosed after a meeting of brands and retailers with industry representatives organised by the ministry of textiles this week. Textiles minister Smriti Irani attended the meeting.

"The meeting was well attended by 30 brands and retailers and was hugely successful. Industry representatives from across India attended the meeting and four apparel entrepreneurs from ITF also attended the meet. There was a good exchange of views regarding the challenges and opportunities," ITF convenor Prabhu Dhamodharan said in a press release.

"Our sincere thanks to Union textiles minister for this great effort. This will strengthen the brands and SME connect and it will help to improve domestic sourcing, and in turn help the sector to create more jobs," Dhamodharan added.

There are several textile and apparel hubs spread across India. In Tamil Nadu only, there are four apparel clusters, viz Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode and Karur, which are suppliers of apparel to global brands and are capable of delivering best products at best prices.

However, due to lack of professional connect between SME manufacturers and brands, India imported more than ₹6,500 crore of apparel last year from a single country. If these apparel were sourced locally from India, it would have resulted in creation of around 1.5 lakh direct jobs, according to Dhamodharan. "So, industry had appealed to the Union textiles ministry to help it connect with MNCs, domestic brands, and organised retailers to create one nationwide engagement platform with SME textile and apparel manufacturing units."

Published On : 12-02-2020

Source : Fibre 2 Fashion