Namrata Kath Hazarika | 25 May, 2012
Despite sluggish market conditions in the major traditional markets like the Europe and US, India's carpet exports have managed to cross the target of USD 800 million last fiscal.
"We have been able to cross the target which government has set up for the industry. We have reached USD 808 million of exports in the last fiscal, " said S.N.Singh, Chairman, Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) to SME Times.
"And, this growth has taken place from major places within the country. The major part has been Delhi/NCR, Jaipur, and Panipat," he added.
He said that the sector has witnessed around 19 percent growth this fiscal as compared to the corresponding period last year.
CEPC also said in the current fiscal they expect a growth of 20 percent and touch USD 960 million.
The council said they are concerned about the challenges that the industry is facing currently. The issues of labour shortages, high interest rates, excise duty on carpet products, etc, are quite significant for government intervention.
Singh said that recently they have discussed and highlighted the constraints faced by the industry to the Commerce Ministry in a meeting on which action is yet to be taken.
Commenting on the conditions of the western markets, he pointed out that the traditional markets are not performing as expected due to the ongoing crisis. So, this is a reason to divert market focus to new markets such as Latin America, Africa, Russia, Middle east, Japan, etc. However, the demand from these markets are picking up.
"We are trying to make people aware of Indian handmade carpets. In the middle-east, they are aware of machine made products. So, they (buyers) are learning and understanding about Indian products," CEPC chief added.
Enumerating his views further, O.P. Garg, Chairman, Overseas Carpet Ltd and former chief of the Council said, "The demand in the new markets is better than the traditional markets. But there are less requirements as they have small stores and traders. This is a new market and will take time to grow. It is picking up. We are looking forward to the opportunities we can have from these markets."
On the rupee depreciation, Garg told SME Times that due to the ongoing rupee depreciation the buyers are demanding huge discounts these days. Buyers are demanding for 15-20 percent discounts at the moment, which is costing his business dearly. Also, there are huge overhead costs.
"We will only earn 2-3 percent of the profit. There is 10-15 percent of cash loss," Singh added further.
