VT, Jan 13, 2006
B D Narayankar
Bangalore: Even as Karnataka government is dreaming of converting the State into India’s garment export hub, many big garment exporters are planning to shift their base from Bangalore to either Chennai or Kochi. Reason? Inadequate infrastructure facilities and government’s signal apathy towards the problems being faced by this high-growth apparel sector . According to sources, the four decade old garment industry in the State at present employed over three lakh persons and fetched foreign exchange earnings to the tune of one billion dollars last fiscal alone. K Mohan and Company , a unit which has seven manufaturing locations around Bangalore with an installed capacity of eight million pieces, has plans to invest in the special economic zone (SEZ) in Kochi. The Kochi unit would have an installed capacity of 600 machines with production capacity of two million pieces anually . Investment in the new unit will be Rs 20 to 25 crore. Industries sources revealed that Kochi and Visakapatnam were vying among themselves to woo big garment exporters from Bangalore, offering them good sops. ’’Andhra authorities have been sending feelers to some export companies’’ they said. AP hopes that the apparel sector could provide employment to about 15 lakh people by 2010. Kochi SEZ has already been attracting foreign apparel companies like Leela Scottish and Ireland’s Baird Macmett. Italian fashion house Liberty is keen on investing in Kochi in a big way . Kochi, hence, can grow into leading garment export hub since fabric could be sourced from centres like Karur and Coimbatore and labour could be easily trained.
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