The knitwear hub of India, Tiruppur, is showing signs of recovery after facing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Despite experiencing a negative growth rate of 24 per cent on average for three months in 2022, the industry witnessed a 2 per cent rise in exports in dollar terms and an 11 per cent rise in Rupee terms in January 2023, indicating a possible upward trend.

The pandemic and the war affected European countries, leading to inflation, high prices of essential commodities, and cautious spending, which had a significant impact on the knitwear industry of Tiruppur. Due to these factors, Europeans were found to wear t-shirts for a longer time before purchasing new ones.

However, there is hope as the industry bounced back to positive sentiment in January 2023, and experts expect to see good business in the coming months. Knitwear exports from Tiruppur in USD terms grew 1.5% at USD 413 million in January 2023, while overall knitwear exports from the country grew by 0.9% at USD 751 million in December 2022 compared to USD 744 million in January 2022.

Tiruppur's knitwear industry is predominantly composed of micro, small, and medium enterprises that depend on orders from Europe and the US. While orders have started to come in from these regions, it is not in significant quantities as in the past. Nevertheless, the 1.5 per cent growth recorded in January is a positive sign that the industry hopes to reflect in the coming months.

In 2022-23, all India knitwear exports were at Rs 53,586 crore as against Rs 29,643 crore from Tiruppur district, which has over 6000 units engaged in knitwear, stitching, dyeing, embroidery, and accounts for more than 70 per cent of knitwear exports in India, employing nearly 5 lakh people.