The onging economic crisis in Sri Lanka is likely to delay payments of South India’s’ textile and fabric exporters. The fall of Sri Lankan rupee by more than 10 per cent against the US dollar, has also raised concerns among Indian textile and fabric exporters.

Siddartha Rajgopal, Executive Director, Texprocil observes, export of cotton fabric to Sri Lanka which was witnessing an upward trend due to pent up demand has started slowing down from August, and the economic emergency has further disrupted trade, Rajagopal says, Sri Lanka is the second-largest market for Indian cotton textiles export after Bangladesh. Export of cotton fabric from India in the first seven months of 2021 increased 38.47 per cent to $179.29 million from the year-ago period, mainly due to pent up demand.

Praveen Khandelwal, General Secretary, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) adds, traders are facing payment problems due to the crisis. Around Rs 8,000 crore is stuck in Sri Lanka and there is no clarity when payments will become smooth,.

However, Raja Shanmugam, President, Tirupur Exporters Association believes, the crisis may prove to be a boon for exporters as buyers may look at India as a sourcing nation and place more orders.