In February, India signed the CEPA with the UAE

Knitwear exports in ‘Dollar Town’ Tiruppur to Australia could double in the next couple of years with India signing the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) on Saturday, says Raja M Shanmugham, President, Tiruppur Exporters’ Association. This is a much awaited agreement that will help boost exports from the region, he told BusinessLine.

Nearly 65 per cent of knitwear exports from India to Australia is from Tiruppur consisting of products like T-shirts, Polo shirts, men’s pyjamas, baby pyjamas and women’s shorts. The other major knitwear export clusters in India are in Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

In 2021-22 (April to January), the value of all India knitwear exports to Australia was Rs 774 crore, which is nearly 2 per cent of the total exports of Rs 49,443 crore, according to data provided by TEA.

For fiscal ending March 31, 2022, Shanmugham expects knitwear exports to Australia from India to be around Rs 925 crore with Tiruppur contributing around Rs 630 crore.

The IndAus agreement signed on Saturday encompassing trade in goods and services, is a balanced and equitable trade agreement. This comes within a few days of India signing a trade agreement with the UAE.

Custom Duty in Australia is 5 per cent. This will go off following the signing of the agreement. The agreement will boost the confidence of exporters and help to reach the target of $1 trillion of merchandise exports from India by 2030, said Shanmugham.

In February, India signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the UAE. Tirupur exports nearly half of India’s knitwear to the UAE.

Published On : 02-04-2022

Source : The Hindu Businessline