For the first quarter of this fiscal year Indian apparel exports grew by 31 per cent.

The country has signed free trade agreements with Mauritius, the UAE and Australia. These agreements are expected to neutralize the advantage which India’s competitors use to enjoy in some of the important markets because of GSP and other NTBs.

Further, there have been efforts to increase export competitiveness with policies like PLI Scheme, PM MITRA etc. These schemes are aimed at making Indian manufacturers global champions as they will get a level-playing field for Indian apparels as against competing countries.Most of India’s major exporting destinations like the US and EU are going for a China plus one strategy, which will prove to be beneficial for India since the cost of labor is low in India as compared to that in neighboring countries.

Indian exporters have asked for raw material security, owing to the spiraling prices of raw cotton and cotton yarn. Another pressing issue is related to RoSCTL. Exporters want the deletion of the condition in the notification issued by DoR for holding the transferee liable for the non- realization / excess availed by the exporter, which will curtail its misuse.

Additionally, the new Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) is awaited as the ATUF scheme expired on March 31, 2022.