20 December 2022, Mumbai
Manufacturers of winter clothing in Ludhiana claim that the warm start to the season this year has left them perplexed as winter approaches. Due to weak demand, especially from the stores distributed across the nation, the business is on the verge of losses.
Winter clothing makers in the city used to have a busy month of October because, by this time, many merchants would have already received their orders from manufacturers or wholesalers.
Inflation is biting
However, the industry is expected to lose money this year because of a significant decline in the demand for winter apparel orders. The economy's unpredictability and excessive inflation are the major factors preventing customers from purchasing anything a little more expensive. The middle-class-focused brands have seen success.
One of the causes is that middle-class spending has increased due to the depletion of resources. Second, the success of internet commerce is unsustainable because numerous portals are giving clients enormous discounts. Thirdly, all of them—customers, retailers, and wholesalers—have made real estate investments and are consequently unable to walk away from the situation. Therefore, the capital is stranded.
Lowdown
Over 90% of the nation's $12,000 billion worth of winter apparel manufacture is produced in Ludhiana, a city in Punjab. Ludhiana has about 12,000 units producing winter clothing, most of which fall under the MSME category. The winter clothing category includes basic sweaters, hoodies, sweatshirts, jackets, shawls, cardigans, and trousers.
Changing paradigm; On the one hand, Bangladesh's market share in winter clothing is expanding, while on the other, the scale of the woolen sector is declining, maybe because winters are getting shorter. More money is being spent on vacation and eating out than on new winter clothing, according to Munish Avasthi, MD of Sportking India Ltd.
Focal point
The clothing sector in Ludhiana expanded its range of goods to include winter coats. The main outlet switched from the export to the domestic market in the middle of the domestic demand for woolen knitwear, and winter coats grew tremendously. The study by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) describes the state of the Ludhiana knitwear sector at the moment (AEPC 2009). Ludhiana monopolizes the Winter clothing industry in the area.
Approximately 95% of India's wool and acrylic knitwear is created in Ludhiana. Product basket; Wool and mixed yams are the main ingredients used to make products in the woolen industry. Woolen shirts, pullovers, cardigans, slipovers, hats, knee tops, trousers, drawers, mufflers, gloves, balaclava hats, jackets, ski jackets, etc., are some examples of these products. The city's woolen industry exports at least 30% of its output.
