Indian textile sector may be benefitted from B’desh unrest

In 1978, the first export-oriented garment factory was established in Bangladesh. After that, this garment industry has become the main focus of the country's economy. 10 percent of the country's total GDP comes from the garment sector. Among them, Dhaka exported 54 billion dollars’ worth of clothes last year alone. China is above Bangladesh in terms of garment exports to the world.

However, after the political change in the country last July-August, the garment industry suddenly came to a standstill. During the month, production and exports decreased due to various demands of garment workers. Besides, the production has also decreased due to gas crisis and load shedding.

Britain's influential magazine The Economist mentioned in an analytical report that India's garment industry can benefit from this instability in the garment sector in Bangladesh.

India is the world's second largest producer of cotton, the magazine said. They export these cottons to Bangladesh. However, although there is a lot of cotton production in India, the country is far behind Bangladesh in terms of the ready-made garment sector.

From 2016 to 2023, revenue from India's apparel exports declined by nearly 15 percent. Meanwhile in Bangladesh apparel exports has increased by 63 percent.

According to the report, traders in India's Tripura received new orders of $54 million due to the unrest in Bangladesh. Another group based out of New Delhi reported a 15 percent increase in orders from Spanish fashion firm Zara last August.

But India does not have the ability to compete with Bangladesh's garment industry right now, said industry analyst Mehedi Mahbub. He said, the current situation will ease soon. Meanwhile, workers have returned to factories and production is increasing. Besides, Bangladesh is ahead in various aspects than the competitors in the clothing sector. One of which is low wage workers. Even Bangladeshi clothing is preferred by European markets.

He further said that American fashion brands are cautious about the future of Bangladesh but are optimistic.
In the report, another expert said, India does not have the ability to compete with Bangladesh in the garment industry at the moment. He said that capital intensive sectors such as electronics have been given more importance in India. Labor dependent sectors like garment industry are not given importance.