I believe the Indian textile and clothing industry will not be able to achieve the export targets set by the government. The government has randomly set an export target, but has not done much towards helping the industry achieve it, there is still no roadmap in place for the same.

Apparel exports were expected to be the driving force for the textile industry. But RMG makers have to import their fabric requirements. Each sector still continues to work in isolation. Manufacturing costs are going up, forcing some exporters to source from China, or to set up factories in China, so obviously to that extent there is no growth happening in the industry.

The government has given loans to the industry at soft terms, and that is commendable. But apart from that, all other incentives are being taken away, making it difficult for exporters to have competitive pricing structures. Since quotas have been abolished, India's RMG exports have grown by around 10-12 per cent, as against the normal growth of 7-8 per cent, which is just four per cent higher than average growth in earlier years.

With the situation what it is, I do not see the industry achieving the export target.

Indian textile and clothing exporters are going through difficult times, with margins getting slashed drastically. So, while some foreign buyers are placing bigger orders than last year, the prices are so low that they are unviable, and have to be turned down by exporters. There are instances where larger factories are taking orders under pressure, because they have invested heavily in increasing capacities and cannot let factories run at low levels of utilisation.

I expect prices to keep falling for the next one to two years at least.

And exporters are not ready to tackle the situation. Government policies are also not helping much. As I see it, despite all the safeguards against Chinese exports, China will capture 60-80 per cent of the world market. Preferential partners will account for another 10 per cent of the world market for textiles and clothing, and India and other textile countries will have a very small market to play in. The export target of US$ 50 billion by 2010 looks unachievable, when there are still no strategies in place, and the action is also missing.

We still face the problem of fabric. I do not see imports from China as a viable option either. Yes, tie-ups with Chinese manufacturers seems viable, but that does nothing to help Indian exports of textiles and clothing.