There is a good chance of substantial amount of investment flowing into the apparel sector, especially in Gurgaon, with issues concerning the sector being discussed between the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) officials and some of the senior Haryana government officials recently.
Apparel is also going to be the focus of the upcoming Happening Haryana: Global Investors Summit, which is scheduled to be held in Gurgaon from March 7 to 8.
Industry insiders are of the opinion that if the government assures the industry of its demands being fulfilled, there is good chance for apparel exporters to announce substantial investment in the industry.
AEPC hosted the meeting with the Haryana government officials to discuss the scope of investment in the apparel industry, even as the industry gears up for more investment. The agenda of the meeting was to understand the critical issues faced by the apparel industry and the existing entrepreneurial growth in this sector.
HKL Magu, MD, Jyoti Apparels; Gautam Nair, MD, Matrix Clothing; Animesh Saxena, MD, Neetee Clothing and Vijay Mathur, Additional Secretary General, AEPC — all highlighted the issues concerning the apparel industry.
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“Industry is ready to invest in the remote villages of Gurgaon as land is available there, and many manufacturers want to start factories near Gurgaon. The burden of ESI, PF proves to be difficult for new industrialists and the Haryana government should ease it out by paying the industrialists’ share of ESI for the first five years, as is done by the governments of Karnataka and Gujrat. It will be a great boost to the industrialists,” said HKL Magu, MD, Jyoti Apparels. Apparel exporters also urged the government to focus more on skill development and labour availability and discussed the prevalence of inspector raaj. The industry, despite being the least polluting one, has to bear the brunt of regular summoning and notices from the pollution boards and such other officers.
“I appreciate the initiative taken by the government of Haryana in taking up the industry issues. The apparel sector has its share of problems; investment would increase by leaps and bounds once the government takes steps towards eradication of these problems. We have collaborated with the state government in various areas, and we are constantly in touch with them to help the Apparel Industry grow further,” said Ashok G Rajani, Chairman, AEPC.
P K Das, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Haryana, said that Gurgaon has the potential to become an Apparel Hub like Banaras and Surat.
T L Satyaprakash, Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon; Sanjeev Raheja, CII, Chandigarh; Ashwani Gupta, Additional Director (Tech); and S N Singh, Joint Director, District Industries Centre, Gurgaon were among the dignitaries present at the meeting.
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