Indian garment exports have hardly been in the comfort zone, ever since January, 2005when the world got free from MFA and everybody thought that they would gain a bigger pie in the international garment trade. India was one country that was looking forward to a big jump in post-MFA scenario, but that was not to be. We had had a rough terrain with some softer patches here and there, but things turned sour with the collapse of Lehman Bros, with its domino effect all over the world. Though India initially, if we were to believe our then Finance Minister, made a claim that India would not be impacted with this, but as we cruised along 2008 through 2009, we started feeling the heat which never ceased to exist.
The last fiscal year saw us barely touching the $14 billion, and there was an air of jubilation, even celebration on the day, we got the first inkling of achieving the target. In fact, apparel exports between April and February rose to $12.14 billion due to an initial pick-up and a 16 percent depreciation of the rupee against the dollar that made exports more remunerative.
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