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The Apparel Manufacturers of India, a group of manufacturers and traders, today inaugurated their first zonal fair at Hitex Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad.
The 13th edition of the fair was inaugurated by Suresh Raja Mouli, Director, R.S. Brothers Pvt Ltd (Telangana). The expo will see the coming together of over 2,000 retailers from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala over the next 3 days.
T.P. Seetharaman, Executive Director, Kalyan Silks (Kerala), expressed concerns over the sector being neglected and called for the need to work together to get the concerns addressed.
He said while the GST has brought down the prices, the market is faced with money flow crunch, especially in businesses such as garments, gold, real estate, which continue to feel the pinch.
“The small players are the one who are reeling in crisis, footfalls are down. Hopefully we should see brighter business environment post April in the next financial year,” he said.
Nikhil Furia, Key Organizer, Apparel Manufacturers of India, said, “Market has not been great for the last few months but is picking up. The wedding season ahead should bring back the business.”
“Issues like demonetisation and rolling out GST just before Diwali season impacted the traders. We missed out on a major seasonal business,” he said.
The association seeks to bridge the gap between manufacturers, retailers, agents and suppliers and build a robust community. The aim is to work in sync in the readymade apparel value chain. Thus far, the association had conducted five fairs in Chennai, six in Kochi and one in Hyderabad over the last 2 years.