Ludhiana: The city’s readymade garment industry is home to a significant portion of the country’s textile business, but now even it is struggling to attract customers.
Over the past year, a local textile body hosted seven exhibitions in Ludhiana, but all events faced significant challenges in securing buyers for showcased products — a departure from the past trend where finding customers was fast and easy.According to one estimate, the exhibitions could attract only one-fourth of the crowds they would get before Covid-19 lockdown.
Vinod Thapar, president of Knitwear Club, said traditionally, these exhibitions served as a vital platform for textile manufacturers to display their newest collections, connect with potential buyers, and secure orders.
He attributed the decline to a fall in purchasing power and flow of money into the market. “People’s capacity to make purchases is continuously declining. Nowadays, those who used to buy three products in a season earlier, are purchasing only one. Only youngsters are spending money on clothes,” said Thapar. He informed they organised three exhibitions in April, two each in June and July last year, and one in Jan. All these exhibitions attracted only one-fourth of the crowd that they used to attract before Covid-19 pandemic.
Chiranjiv Singh, general secretary of the club, termed demonetisation and Covid-19 as reasons for the stagnation of sector’s growth. “Industry was derailed by demonetisation in 2016 and then Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 brought industry to its knees. The situation has never been the same again after that. We always have high hopes from these exhibitions, but now trends are changing,” he added.
Over the past year, a local textile body hosted seven exhibitions in Ludhiana, but all events faced significant challenges in securing buyers for showcased products — a departure from the past trend where finding customers was fast and easy.According to one estimate, the exhibitions could attract only one-fourth of the crowds they would get before Covid-19 lockdown.
Vinod Thapar, president of Knitwear Club, said traditionally, these exhibitions served as a vital platform for textile manufacturers to display their newest collections, connect with potential buyers, and secure orders.
He attributed the decline to a fall in purchasing power and flow of money into the market. “People’s capacity to make purchases is continuously declining. Nowadays, those who used to buy three products in a season earlier, are purchasing only one. Only youngsters are spending money on clothes,” said Thapar. He informed they organised three exhibitions in April, two each in June and July last year, and one in Jan. All these exhibitions attracted only one-fourth of the crowd that they used to attract before Covid-19 pandemic.
Chiranjiv Singh, general secretary of the club, termed demonetisation and Covid-19 as reasons for the stagnation of sector’s growth. “Industry was derailed by demonetisation in 2016 and then Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 brought industry to its knees. The situation has never been the same again after that. We always have high hopes from these exhibitions, but now trends are changing,” he added.
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