OPINION: What India can learn from Bangladesh in textile – what can be learned from bangladesh in textile india

Due to increase in labor cost, the garment export market started coming out of the hands of China.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh doubled its exports from $22 billion to $42 billion.

At the same time, garment exports from India remained stable at around $16 billion.

Today Bangladesh has more than 4,000 factories serving the world’s biggest fashion brands. These factories employ over 44 lakh people, of whom 90 per cent are women.

There is a possibility that China’s share in the garment export market will decrease rapidly in the coming times. In such a situation, India should target at least $ 100 billion out of the global RMG trade of $ 500 billion. This sector of export can provide employment to 1.5 crore people, which is three times more than IT/BPO. The Government of India has also made a comprehensive policy to promote this sector. The Foreign Trade Policy, 2023 includes several initiatives to simplify the approval process, reduce costs and increase exports.

There are clusters for RMG export in rich states of India. The Chief Ministers of these states should put RMG exports in ‘mission mode’ with three basic initiatives:

The states which have maximum availability of labor should provide such a service with single window system which will facilitate the businessmen. They should also be accountable in terms of investment and export targets. Even if it is not applicable across the state, but it can be implemented in Dedicated Garments Export Clusters.

Compared to India, the textile industry in Bangladesh has got many concessions. In particular, a shift of up to 10 hours is allowed there, which gives the companies an advantage of 15 percent compared to India. In India too, some concessions have been given in the new labor code, which should be taken advantage of by the state governments.

The minimum wage even in the poorest states of India is much higher than in Bangladesh. But wages in the informal sector in these states are close to Bangladesh. An incentive linked to broad employment, which bridges the gap between minimum and market wages, can increase investment and employment.

If states try in RMG export, they can achieve great success. Of course, they will have to seek the cooperation of the central government. Success in this area is also important because it can create lakhs of new jobs for the state.

(The writer is CEO and Doshi Operating Partner, The Convergence Foundation)