Indian fabric makers eye Bangladesh

Indian manufacturers look to capture a bigger share of the fabric market in Bangladesh as the country has already shown its strength in the global readymade garment supply chain, India’s textile raw material exporters said.

Bangladesh, the second largest garment exporter worldwide, largely relies on India, apart from China, for garments raw materials.

Currently, Bangladesh imports fabric worth $7 billion a year to run its garment sector. Of them, fabric worth more than $2 billion come from India and $5 billion from China, according to industry people.  

“Bangladesh is a better garments manufacturer than India and the garment sector is dependent on fabric import, which has created an opportunity for Indian fabric manufacturers,” said Rahul Kaviya, director of Ayma Creations Pvt Ltd, India.

Kaviya spoke while taking part in the 19th Textech Bangladesh International Expo 2018, at International Convention City Bashundhara in Dhaka.

Around 1,200 foreign companies, including some 92 textiles related firms, took part in the four-day fair.

Ayma Creations is a Gujarat-based manufacturer of suiting fabric and exporter to Gulf countries.

Kaviya said he would not have known about the demand of fabric in Bangladesh had he not taken part in the event.

“I discussed with a number of garment manufacturers in Bangladesh and they showed interest to purchase our products,” he said.

Ayma Creations is also thinking about importing a huge volume of garment items from Bangladesh as prices are cheap compared to those in Vietnam and Indonesia, he said.

“The quality is also very good,” Kaviya told The Daily Star.

He said another advantage of importing garment items from Bangladesh is that Ayma Creations will not have to pay duty as Bangladesh has duty-free access to Indian market.

This offers a good chance to garment manufacturers to boost their exports to India, Kaviya said. 

Rajesh Kumar Somani, director of Ramkumar Textiles Pvt Ltd, sees a good future for the Indian fabric manufacturers in Bangladesh thanks to increasing demand for Indian fabric.

He lauded the entrepreneurs of Bangladesh for developing the garment sector.

Somani said the fabric manufacturing sector is yet to develop in Bangladesh compared to India largely because of non-availability of raw materials.

Ramkumar Textiles exports to Latin American and Gulf countries. The fair has opened the door to export its products to Bangladesh, Somani said.

Hanish Vikmani of AM Industries Ltd, an exporter of premium shirting and suiting fabric, said he is hopeful to start exporting products to Bangladesh as a number of customers have shown interest.

Rawalwasia Yarn Dyeing Pvt Ltd, a manufacturer and exporter of woven and knitting fabrics, is trying to enter the market in Bangladesh.

And Pradip Marathe, head of customer service of the company, believes that Rawalwasia Yarn will get a good market share as it manufactures high quality products.

Babita Singh, proprietor of Ashok Vatika, a Kolkata-based fashion house, said she is looking for partners to set up joint venture in Bangladesh.

Ashok Vatika will provide technical support along with fabric.

“Our products have big demand among the fashion-lovers in Bangladesh. During Eid-ul-Fitr, a huge quantity of our products is imported to Bangladesh. So, I am confident about capturing a share of the market.”