2/16/14

Print

India's silk industry fights against rising China imports : Business Today

Close

India's silk industry fights against rising

China imports
Ajay Modi

February 13, 2014

Sribhas Chandra Supakar, a Varanasi-based textile designer, hopes India will soon stop
importing raw silk. "Whenever there is a spurt in prices of imported raw silk, it impacts prices
of domestic silk as well," he says. "If we can eliminate imports, this volatility will end."
That wish may come true within a few years. The silk industry in India, with a 15 per cent
share of global output, is seeing a 'swadeshi' movement. Over the past five years, domestic
production of raw silk has risen about 30 per cent to 23,679 metric tonne in 2012/13 from
18,320 tonne in 2007/08. Imports of raw silk fell 38 per cent to 4,951 tonne from 7,922 tonne
during the same period. The trend continues in the current fiscal year as well, with imports in
the first six months (April-September 2013) touching just 1,175 tonne. India imports mostly
from China, which has a share of nearly 82 per cent in global output.
"We aim to eliminate silk imports and make India self-sufficient by 2020," says K.K. Shetty,
Joint Secretary at the Central Silk Board, which functions under the Ministry of Textiles. The
ministry has set a target of increasing production to 32,000 tonne by 2016/17 by growing the
area under sericulture and improving productivity. Textiles Minister K. Sambasiva Rao has
since raised the bar higher, saying in December that output should go up to 46,000 tonne by
that time.
Shetty says domestic silk is also priced competitively. Imported silk yarn sells for Rs4,500
per kg while domestic yarn is available for Rs3,500 to Rs3,800 per kg. According to Shetty,
handlooms account for about 85 per cent of silk consumption in India while powerlooms use
the remaining. The country, the biggest consumer of silk globally, has now started producing
the bivoltine grade of the fabric that can be used by powerlooms. "We have developed
silkworm seeds that can produce silk suitable for powerlooms," he says.
One such manufacturer who uses local raw silk on his powerlooms is Thunga
Ramachandra. The owner of Bangalore-based exporter Thunga Silk International says the
company uses both imported and domestic silk on its 68 powerlooms. "Some of our foreign
buyers have been placing orders based on samples made of domestic silk," he says.
While falling imports and rising output are positive developments, the silk industry is facing a
number of challenges as well. India's silk import bill has continued to swell. The country paid
Rs1,236.83 crore in 2012/13 for raw-silk imports compared with Rs734.44 crore five years
before, as silk prices rose and the rupee weakened.
A weaker rupee has also hurt silk exports from the country. Shipments had already been
falling since the global economic turmoil that began in 2008 dampened demand in the US
and Europe, the biggest markets for Indian silk products. Export earnings slipped to
Rs2,303.53 crore in 2012/13 from Rs3,178.19 crore in 2008/09. China has also made a dent
in Indian exports. "Our exporters are not able to compete with China on pricing," says Shetty.
businesstoday.intoday.in/storyprint/203156#

1/3

2/16/14

India's silk industry fights against rising China imports : Business Today

The local silk industry, like other segments

in the textile sector, is also at the
crossroads of technology. While a large
part of the industry has shifted to
powerlooms in the past two decades,
handloom products are also enjoying a new
lease of life. Handloom products from
traditional silk pockets like Varanasi in Uttar
Pradesh and Bhagalpur in Bihar have found
buyers not just in India but also overseas.
Yuko Matsumoto, Manager at Tokyo-based
apparel and fashion retailing firm Kafka,
says she flies twice a year to Varanasi to
source handloom-made silk scarves and
other products. The value of products
sourced by Kafka from the temple town has
doubled to Rs3 crore in the last two years,
she says.
Supakar, the Varanasi textile designer,
alleges many in the industry are selling
powerloom products but calling them
handloom-made. "If you make a product on
a handloom that can be replicated on a
powerloom, no one will buy it since a similar
powerloom product will be much cheaper.
Most buyers can't distinguish between the
two. Price is the most important
determinant," he says. A powerloom saree,
for instance, sells for anything between
Rs600 to Rs4,000 while handloom silk
saree prices range from Rs3,500 to even a
few lakh rupees.
Popular retail chains such as Fabindia and
Raw Mango also source silk products from
Varanasi and Bhagalpur. Niranjan Poddar,
Secretary of a weavers' cooperative in
Bhagalpur, says he has made scarves for
well-known designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee
and has supplied to Fabindia. The
cooperative manages the entire production
process from cocoons to finished silk
products. It has more than a hundred
handlooms and earns annual revenue of
Rs5 crore.
Amresh Prasad Kushwaha, who runs a
handloom cooperative in Varanasi, says the period between 2000 and 2010 was tough due to
businesstoday.intoday.in/storyprint/203156#

2/3

2/16/14

India's silk industry fights against rising China imports : Business Today

weak demand as buyers preferred cheaper powerloom products. In recent years, he has
started working with retail chains such as Fabindia, which give him designs and specify a
price range for handloom products. His cooperative has around 50 weavers who work on 25
handlooms. It reported revenues of Rs1.5 crore last year from silk sarees, shawls, stoles
and dress material.
Kushwaha, however, worries about the future of handloom weaving. The new generation is
less inclined to take up weaving as a profession as it involves much hard work, he says.
Most of his weavers are in the 45 to 55 age group and earn Rs250 to Rs300 daily. "One can
earn the same money working at a powerloom with less stress," he says. "I wonder how to
make this an attractive profession for the youth."
Print

Close

URL for this article :

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/india-silk-industry-revival-on-impact-of-china-imports/1/203156.html
@ Copyright 2010 India Today Group.

businesstoday.intoday.in/storyprint/203156#

3/3