India Knitting Industry Is Seriously Concerned About Bangladesh Knitwear Tax-Free Access To India.

KB Agarwala, chairman of the India knitwear manufacturers association (FOHMA) alliance, said that the abolition of the 46 garments and garments on the list of goods protected under the South Asia free trade agreement has begun to seriously affect the knitting industry in India and is expected to lead to large-scale unemployment across the country.

The investment in the knitting industry in India is now at the edge of distortion. Due to the lack of proper analysis, importing Bangladesh clothing is now destroying the whole business chain.

He further pointed out that Bangladesh could import fabrics and raw materials from China, Taiwan and other Asian countries for the zero tariff of their export garments.

Therefore, under this agreement, cheap fabrics from these countries can enter our country through Bangladesh and fill our market, so it will be very difficult for us to compete with Bangladesh counterparts.

Garment manufacturing in Bangladesh

Agarwala added that the India knitwear industry is mainly a small-scale industry, providing employment opportunities for more than 18 million workers (40% for women).

The fate of these workers and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in the production of knitted products will be severely affected.

West Bengal, Rupp and Ludhiana's clothing cluster will be adversely affected, resulting in a large number of unemployment.

Compared with Bangladesh's counterparts, India's knitting industry has no fair competition environment, because Bangladesh's labor cost is about 1/3 of India's clothing workers' wages.

The small size of India garment factories is mainly due to the lack of flexibility in labour policies, emphasis on safety and less flexibility in employment.

Finally, the knitting and processing rate of India is 40% higher than that of Bangladesh.

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Agarwala believes that allowing the Bangladesh ready-made garments / knitted products to enter India without tariffs will destroy the knitting industry in India. India's knitting industry has already faced many problems, such as mandatory consumption tax of 10.3%, cotton and yarn price fluctuations, and limited demand for products.

Therefore, he appealed to the India government to seriously consider these problems and take measures to save the knitting industry in India.