Heads of engineering companies from country meet potential future business partners at networking event Considering the start-ups in India and the country’s manufacturing and production capacity, it’s a golden opportunity for Indian firms to go global, said Omar Alkhan, director, International Offices, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry at an event organised by EEPC India at Anantara Downtown Hotel in Dubai. Heads of nearly 40 engineering companies from India met their potential future business partners at the networking meeting to boost bilateral trade between the two countries as part of the Cepa agreement signed early this year. Indian Ambassador to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir spoke about how UAE has been a major player and contributor to Indian exports. “The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave us a target of 400 billion Dollars of export last year and we are happy that we could cross the figure and the UAE was the major player and contributor to Indian Exports,” said Sudhir. “We are well on a trajectory in improving bilateral trade between both the countries and we have received immense support from Dubai Chambers and other entities for easy flow of trade between the two countries. India, UAE relation is strongest in the Mena region,” added the ambassador. Speaking to Khaleej Times, Alkhan highlighted that India is a hotbed for Small and Medium Enterprises and Dubai can an international playground for these companies to go global. “Indian companies, especially SMEs can have a global reach as Dubai has potential to upscale their businesses considering much manoeuvrable and agile nature and one can have masterminds to help these firms grow to various places across the world,” said Alkhan. “Dubai has a high quality of services, business, and huge networking potential. This will make it Indian companies easy to function in a global playground like Dubai,” added Al Khan. Alkahn mentioned about the Dubai Chamber Digital Economy wing which is focused to bring digital start-ups and “collaborate with Dubai International chamber to help them go global,” said Alkhan and highlighted that they have 12 offices in 11 countries to help these companies. Alkhan said that it is a neutral country with huge production capabilities. “Everything from electric vehicles, aviation, satellites, electronics, textiles etc can be produced in India and can be marketed through Dubai and these SME’s of today can be the multinational companies of tomorrow if they can capitalize on the growth and Dubai will complement them,” “I want to see more Indian companies step in healthcare and education in Dubai and diversify in other regions in the world,” concluded Alkhan.
Source: Khaleej Times
Several leading industrialists dealing in textiles, diamonds, jewellery and other products took part in the conclave, held by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). In an aim to invite export-oriented industrialists from Surat to the country’s first portbased Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JN Port) in New Mumbai, an investor conclave was held Wednesday. Several leading industrialists dealing in textiles, diamonds, jewellery and other products took part in the conclave, held by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Highlighting the world-class facilities at the JN Port SEZ, JNPA chairman Sanjay Sethi said, “JNPA is set to strengthen its growth with this SEZ that offers varied facilities from single-window clearances to multi-modal connectivity and state-of-the-art infrastructure, making it an ideal choice to establish businesses and boost exportoriented industries in India.” Adding that Gujarat and Maharashtra are two big industrial hubs, Sethi added, “This is country’s first port SEZ, where manufacturing services as well as ware-housing facilities are available at one place. We have sold around 26 plots to different companies…” The multi-product SEZ was developed on 277.38 hectares of land as India’s first portbased multi-product operational SEZ with the new Mumbai airport coming up around 10 kilometres from it. “Mumbai Trans Harbour link (MTHL) that is coming up will directly connect Mumbai sea link to the JNPA SEZ… We have made plot sizes flexible, depending on the requirement of the investors,” Sethi said adding the basic cost of one acre is Rs 3 crore, which through online bidding may go upto Rs 5 crore. The 60-year lease will be done between investors and JNPA SEZ, he said, adding, “We are coming up with new bidding for lease of plots and it will be done through online auctions.” Adding that ocean freight rates are lowest in four years, Sethi said, “Three years ago, our daily trade was 5 million TU (units of container) through ports. In 2018-’19, it went up to 7.50 million TU and in the next two-and-a-half years, we are expecting it to reach 10 million TU.” Claiming that the JNPA SEZ will reduce logistic costs of imports and exports, deputy chairman of JNPA SEZ, Unmesh Sharad Wagh, said, “We request the industrialists of Surat to set up their industries there and take maximum advantage. Apart from several multinational companies, the Dubai Port World has purchased 20 per cent area, where they will develop free trade warehousing zone.” The JNPA SEZ aims to generate additional economic activity, promotion of exports, promotion of investments, creation of employment and infrastructure development, according to the authorities. It also offers incentives to investors, including subsidised water and electricity supply. Emphasising the rich heritage of maritime transport of the country, Paras Mehta, chairman, CII Southern Gujarat Zonal Council and director, OrgoChem (Gujarat) Pvt Ltd, said, “We consider the investor conclave as an open-hearted approach adopted by the JNPA SEZ to interact with the industry captains to understand their requirements and address their concerns. This inclusive step will forge partnerships that will set new benchmarks in the era of port-led industrialisation.”
Source: Indian Express
The 14-member team from India, lead by Rachna Shah, additional secretary in the commerce ministry, is interfacing with counterparts from Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry, lead by Jay Allen, director-general – trade negotiations. Negotiations between India and Canada to secure an Early Progress Trade Agreement, or EPTA, have accelerated with a delegation from New Delhi in Ottawa for discussions through this week, according to people aware of the matter. The 14-member team from India, lead by Rachna Shah, additional secretary in the commerce ministry, is interfacing with counterparts from Global Affairs Canada, the country’s foreign ministry, lead by Jay Allen, director-general – trade negotiations. A senior Indian official associated with the discussions told Hindustan Times that there is optimism over securing a “workable text” for the agreement by October this year. Pointing to the momentum, the official underlined the fact this is already the third round of discussions on EPTA. India has been discussing key trade agreements with several countries and blocs, including the UK and EU, with the focus on digital trade, data protection, and sustainable development. New Delhi has already forged pacts with the United Arab Emirates and Australia with an aim to boost bilateral trade and investment. India and Canada decided to consider the interim agreement when Canadian minister of international trade, export promotion, small business and economic development, Marg Ng, visited New Delhi in March and held a ministerial dialogue on trade and investment with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on March 11. EPTA, if concluded, will be a transitional step towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA. The governments have decided on the “two-tier” approach and “bank the low-hanging fruit” of the areas of close convergence under EPTA before progressing to the more complex CEPA. According to the Canadian government data for 2020, the country’s imports from India were pegged at CA$ 4.97 billion while its exports stood at CA$ 3.71 billion. Major trade between the two sides covered exports of metal ores, non-metallic products and energy products from Canada, and imports of textiles and consumer goods from India. The country’s stated trade goal is to cross the CA$ 10-billion mark. The Indian delegation arrived in Ottawa on Sunday, negotiations commenced on Monday, and discussions on EPTA are scheduled to continue till the end of the week, the people cited in the first instance said. There is also broader support for the deal, including from Canada’s finance ministry — headed by deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland — which wants the country to be far more economically engaged in the Indo-Pacific. Unlike the previous series of negotiations over CEPA, 11 rounds in all, which finally didn’t bear fruit, this time around, the Indian official cited above said, both sides have “established a greater degree of understanding of sensitivities” of the other. EPTA is being looked upon as the “first deliverable” towards strengthening the economic and trade relationship between the two countries, the official added. Corporate groups in Canada have also sought progress on the matter in recent days. Last week, a report from the Business Council of Canada and the Canada-India Business Council noted, “India represents a vital door to the future in global trade.” The two major groups called for an India-specific strategy and said that “will be an important first step in enhancing the relationship, but Canada should not stop there. A comprehensive trade and investment agreement that reduces tariffs and other barriers, increases labour mobility and improves investor confidence would generate significant economic gains for both countries.” “Global markets are experiencing volatality on many fronts. It is a wonderful opportunity for India and Canada to diversify and actively seek out more trading opportunities together,” said Victor Thomas, president and CEO of Canada-India Business Council.
Source: Hindustan Times
After a gap of about nine years, both the sides resumed the much-awaited negotiations in June for a “new-age” FTA. India and the EU will likely hold the next round of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) in early October in Brussels, a senior government official told FE, as the two sides seek to expedite talks to hammer out a deal by next fiscal. India is expected to submit its master negotiating text to the EU in October for further discussion, another source said. After a gap of about nine years, both the sides resumed the much-awaited negotiations in June for a “new-age” FTA that would cover a number of areas, beyond just goods, services and investments. Discussions are likely to take place on as many as 18 policy areas. The EU is learnt to have submitted its own negotiating text to India in June. India’s experience of negotiating a modern FTA with an advanced economy like the UK will come in handy in its talks with the EU as well, one of the sources said. Still, despite firm commitments from both the sides, a deal with the EU will take longer, thanks to sticky market access issues, on top of the complexity of negotiating with bloc whose 27 members may not necessarily have common ambitions in several aspects of trade, sources said. India and the UK, meanwhile, have set the Diwali (October 24) deadline for clinching an FTA, formal negotiations for which started only in January. Both the sides the sides would first take stock of the progress made so far and discuss how to proceed further. “It makes sense to focus on points of convergence first before moving on to the contentious matters,” one of the sources had said. In the last round, 52 technical sessions covering various areas of negotiations and seven sessions on investment protection and geographical indications were held. Formal negotiations between the two sides for the FTA were stuck over stark differences after 16 rounds of talks between 2007 and 2013. The EU insisted that India scrap or slash hefty import duties on sensitive products such as automobiles, alcoholic beverages and dairy products, and open up legal services. Similarly, India’s demand included greater access to the EU market for its skilled professionals, among others. However, both the sides have now decided to take the negotiations to their logical conclusion. The EU, even after the Brexit, continued to be India’s largest export destination (as a bloc) in FY22, although it has lost some appeal. The country’s outbound shipments to the EU jumped 57% on year in FY22 to $65 billion, albeit on a contracted base. Similarly, its imports from the EU jumped 29.4% last fiscal to $51.4 billion.
Source: Financial Express
Separately, according to a statement by the Swiss federal department of finance, Maurer “promoted open markets and emphasised that stronger trade has a positive impact on a country’s prosperity in the long term”. Maurer, who is on a visit to India, also met external affairs minister S Jaishankar. Switzerland’s Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer on Wednesday pitched for expeditious completion of negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), in a meeting with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.The EFTA is a regional trading bloc comprising four European economies — Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. India’s exports to EFTA stood at just $1.7 billion in FY22, up 9% from a year ago. However, its imports surged 35% on year to $25.5 billion last fiscal. Of these, imports from Switzerland alone touched $23.4 billion, with supplies of diamonds and other precious and semi-precious stones and metals accounting for as much as $20.9 billion. Negotiations for a broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement between the EFTA economies and India were officially launched in January 2008. As many as 13 rounds of talks were held until 2013 before they were put on hold. The negotiations were resumed in October 2016. In a tweet, the Indian ministry of finance said the two leaders exchanged views on global economic issues and India’s upcoming G20 presidency in 2023. “Both sides discussed areas for enhanced cooperation, including on fintech, automatic exchange of information, renewable energy, sunrise sectors as well as infrastructure investments and sustainable finance,” the ministry said. Separately, according to a statement by the Swiss federal department of finance, Maurer “promoted open markets and emphasised that stronger trade has a positive impact on a country’s prosperity in the long term”. Maurer, who is on a visit to India, also met external affairs minister S Jaishankar. Their discussion was “centered around identifying potential ways for the two countries to cooperate more closely in the future, and learning more about the Indian financial market, especially in the area of sustainable or green infrastructure and fintech”, according to the Swiss government statement.
Source: Financial Express
The sectors that India is focusing to invest include renewable energy, hydrocarbons, ports and infrastructure, IT and hospitality, highly placed sources told ET. Sources claimed that notwithstanding the crisis, Indian investors in the island nation are not willing to wrap up their investments and businesses given Sri Lanka's strategic location and potential New Delhi plans to invest in Sri Lanka across sectors through both private and public firms and interconnect the Lankan economy with the Indian economy to boost the sagging fortunes of the island nation. The sectors that India is focusing to invest include renewable energy, hydrocarbons, ports and infrastructure, IT and hospitality, highly placed sources told ET. Sources claimed that notwithstanding the crisis, Indian investors in the island nation are not willing to wrap up their investments and businesses given Sri Lanka's strategic location and potential. Sri Lanka is an economy having three main sources of revenue - exports, tourism and remittances. Due to Covid, some of these sources dried up completely. The Sri Lankan economy will benefit from more investments and the Indian government is trying to facilitate this. The idea is to engage with the Ranil government for promoting greater trade, investment and more cooperation between the two economies. The NTPC is looking at establishing a solar power plant in Sampur in eastern Sri Lanka near Trincomalee, under a joint collaboration with the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). Since January this year, India has offered aid and humanitarian assistance of around $4 billion to Sri Lanka, the largest ever given to any country, to help the nation meet its shortage of food, fuel, medicines and other essential items. Besides Sri Lanka has given approval for India's Lanka NSE -2.07 % (LIOC) to open 50 new fuel stations and this will be followed by another 150 stations with the total number of stations going up to around 500 in the next few months to meet fuel shortage.
Source: Indian Express
The Indian economy, they said, is set for its best run in over a decade as pent-up demand is unleashed India is likely to be the fastest-growing Asian economy in 2022-23, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. They expect India’s gross domestic product growth to average 7 per cent during this period — the strongest among the largest economies — and contributing 28 per cent and 22 per cent to Asian and global growth, respectively. The Indian economy, they said, is set for its best run in over a decade as pent-up demand is unleashed. “We have been constructive on India’s outlook, both from a cyclical and structural perspective, for some time. The recent strong run of data increases our confidence that India is well positioned to deliver domestic demand alpha, which will be particularly important as developed market growth weakness percolates into Asia’s external demand,” wrote Chetan Ahya, chief Asia economist at Morgan Stanley, in a recent coauthored note. The key change in India’s structural story, according to Ahya, lies in the clear shift in policy focus towards lifting the productive capacity of the economy. Policymakers, he wrote, have taken up a series of reforms which will catalyse an upswing in the private capital expenditure cycle, helping unleash a powerful productivity dynamic, leading to the onset of a virtuous cycle. A large part of this optimism has stemmed from a drop in commodity prices, especially crude oil. With a 23–37 per cent decline in oil/commodity prices since the March peak, Morgan Stanley expects macro stability indicators to head back towards the comfort zone and that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may not have to hike rates aggressively. “We project that the RBI does not need to lift rates deeply into the restrictive territory. In other words, the RBI will not need to slow domestic demand growth meaningfully to control macro stability indicators. From a medium-term perspective, the key risk is if policymakers make a shift towards redistribution rather than focusing on boosting private investment. In the near term, India is still exposed to global supply shocks like a renewed spike in oil/commodity prices,” said Ahya. Since May, the RBI has hiked rates cumulatively by 140 basis points in quick succession, lifting policy rates to 5.4 per cent — a touch above pre-pandemic levels of 5.1 per cent. Besides a fall in the prices of commodities, reopening of the economy earlier this year has also aided economic recovery. Demand, according to Morgan Stanley, has been on an uptick as mobility increased and remained above pre-Covid levels over the past few months. “The strength of recovery provides a comforting backdrop and represents the strongest performance of the economy in almost a decade. What’s more, it is the breadth of recovery where we are seeing growth firing on almost all cylinders, which is very encouraging — even though exports will slow in India just as we expect them to elsewhere in the region. Even in this instance, we expect services exports to hold up better than goods exports, acting as a mitigating factor,” added Morgan Stanley.
Source: Indian Express
Exports of almost 1,800 products of plastics, fur, stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, and machinery and mechanical appliances will cease to get the benefits and make Indian goods more expensive with exporters paying 6.5% duty for certain plastic products where the tariff is nil at present. Their exports to the EU in 2021 were $7.9 billion. India's exports of plastics, stone, machinery and mechanical appliances worth $7.9 billion to the EU will no longer be eligible for low or zero-duty concessions from January, 2023 as the bloc would withdraw these benefits under the Generalised Tariff Preference Scheme (GSP). Exports of almost 1,800 products of plastics, fur, stone, plaster, cement, asbestos, and machinery and mechanical appliances will cease to get the benefits and make Indian goods more expensive with exporters paying 6.5% duty for certain plastic products where the tariff is nil at present. Their exports to the EU in 2021 were $7.9 billion. "In these four sectors, the EU is a major export destination for India and holds around 22.58% share of India's total exports," said Ajay Sahai, director general, Federation ofIndian Export Organisations. Textiles, vehicles, chemicals and some leather products got excluded from the EU GSP programme in 2014 after their exports crossed the specified threshold and haven't enjoyed the preferential treatment since then. On June 29, the EU announced the withdrawal of GSP benefits for India in the four sectors from January 1, 2023 along with those for Kenya and Indonesia. The current EU GSP system will expire at the end of 2023. Going ahead, for 2024-2034, the EU aims at a more effective system which delivers benefits to where they are needed and time toughens the sustainable development criteria applicable to developing countries. The withdrawal of GSP benefits by the EU countries for certain sectors will impact the export of these commodities to EU; one more reason for India to move fast on the IndiaEU FTA fast," said Bipin Sapra, partner at EY India. Exporters have already raised the issue with the commerce and industry ministry as GSP is the only route to get tariff concessions as the India-EU free trade agreement is yet to be formalised. "This will severely impact our competitiveness as other GSP and GSP plus countries will continue to enjoy tariff concessions for these sectors," said an industry representative. As per an analysis done by FIEO, out of the total 16,309 EU tariff lines (products), 46.6% are eligible for tariff concessions under GSP. Around 23% of the products have zero duty. It analysed 1,947 products that get GSP benefits, of which 81% get full tariff concessions and 11% are subject to low duty but these concessions will no longer be available for India from January next year. Among states, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu would be the most hit as their share in exports to the EU is almost 60%.
Source: Economic Times
One-day gathering will also address legal labeling of organic textiles in Canada GOTS’s (Global Organic Textiles Standard) first event specific to the Canadian market will include marketing data, case studies and a field trip. The one-day GOTS Global Roundtable in Canada will take place in Toronto on Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is free and will open on Sept. 1. Among the program highlights: • Overview with Lori Wyman, GOTS representative in North America • Case studies of companies who have chosen to be certified to GOTS with Melita Cyril, CEO of Q is for Quinn; and Melanie Cunanan, VP design & production development at Pehr • A discussion about who needs to be certified and what is involved at the various steps of the supply chain with information from Control Union Certifications • Kim De Lallo, member relations & business development manager for the Canadian Organic Trade Association, will address legal labeling of organic textiles in Canada and will share new marketing data from COTA’s recent annual report. • Tour of the Fine Cotton Knitting Factory, with bus transportation provided to and from the facility.
Source: Home Textiles Today
• Export of textiles and garments beat expectations and increased by 17.5 per cent compared with a year earlier to a record US$33.22 billion in July • The Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act went into effect in June, effectively banning US imports of all products from Xinjiang China’s textile and garment industry recorded a surprising surge in export value last month, despite the sweeping United States ban on products from the region that produces 90 per cent of the nation’s cotton. Monthly exports of textiles and garments beat expectations and increased by 17.5 per cent compared with a year earlier to a record high of US$33.22 billion in July, according to data released by China Customs on Sunday. The value also increased by 5.3 per cent from June, when Washington’s Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act came into effect. But industry insiders said the momentum is not a true reflection of the strength of the industry, as July’s exports were largely from the orders placed months earlier, while the surge may also have been caused by rising prices. “Exports are a lagging indicator of the industry,” said Alex Chen, secretary general of Wenzhou Garment Chamber of Commerce. “The garments exported in July were finished in June or earlier, while the orders might have been placed by downstream clients in the second half of last year.” Garment exports from Wenzhou, a manufacturing hub in eastern China, increased by 42.55 per cent in the first five months of 2022 compared with the same time last year, according to Chen, but he anticipates increased challenges for the rest of the year. “The whole industry has been impacted [by the US law], and in the future, with some other issues such as tensions around Taiwan, the continuation of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, the Sino-US relationship may become more subtle, then it may further affect [the garment exports to the US],” he added. The rising prices of cotton products passed down by soaring raw material prices may also have contributed to the surge in export value. China exported 3.62 million tonnes of cotton products in the first half of the year, a 2.73 per cent year-on-year increase, while the export value increased by 15.05 per cent to US$43.07 billion, according to Beijing Cotton Outlook Consulting on Monday. The smothering effect of the US ban on the world’s top textile maker might have already surfaced, recent industry statistics showed. As China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 49 in July, it was mainly driven by textile and other industries that continued to be in the contraction range and significantly lower than the overall level of the manufacturing industry, according to Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician at the National Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, in the first six months of the year, the value added of China’s textile industry decreased by 1.1 per cent year on year, lower than the growth rate of industrial enterprises in general, according to data from AskCI Consulting, an industry research and consulting services supplier based in Shenzhen. The total profits for China’s textile industry dropped by 5.3 per cent compared with last year to 42.63 billion yuan (US$6.3 billion) in the first half of 2022, figures from AskCI Consulting showed. As one-fifth of global cotton is effectively banned from entering the US market, the price has been pushed up further on top of the pressure caused by the Ukraine war. But the price of Xinjiang cotton has continued to fall as it has been increasingly shunned by downstream manufacturers who are wary of running afoul of the US ban, despite state stockpiling having started last month. Under the terms of the act, US imports of all products from Xinjiang are banned unless “clear and convincing” evidence shows that no forced labour was involved in their production. The price of cotton futures trading on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange has been slashed by over 30 per cent since May, closing at 14,225 yuan (US$2,106) per tonne on Wednesday. “The pressure is huge,” said the owner of a cotton-ginning mill in southern Xinjiang, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. “Over 2 million tonnes of Xinjiang cotton are currently taking up the inventory space, and the new harvest season is looming, which will add 6 million more tonnes to the unsold inventory.”
Source: South China Morning Post
Bangladesh's textile industry is currently facing major challenges due to the global recession and inflation Bangladesh's textile industry is currently facing major challenges due to the global recession and inflation as retailers in both European and US markets are either deferring the shipments of finished products or delaying orders due to soaring inflation. The world's second-largest garment exporter after China is facing prolonged challenges including power shortage domestically affecting production on one hand while its major markets are postponing shipments due to surging inflation, Bangladesh Live News reported. Plummy Fashion Ltd, a supplier of Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, the parent company of fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger and Inditex SA's Zara, observe a drop of 20 per cent in new orders in July from a year earlier. Bangladesh's textile industry is facing unfavourable trade policies, internal security concerns, the higher cost of imported inputs apart from post-Covid-19 supply chain disruptions and a decline in global demand. The energy crisis in Bangladesh has increased the cost of the business in the country. One of the leading exporters that supply to Gap Inc. and H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB claims that it depends on generators for at least 3 hours a day to power its dyeing and washing units in the manufacturing hub of Gazipur on the outskirts of Dhaka, reported Bangladesh Live News. The cost of electricity from generators is three times more than power from the regional grid. At the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak, Bangladesh garment orders worth USD2.87 billion were cancelled as of March 31, 2020, according to a Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Association (BGMA) estimate. This affected about 2.09 million workers and over 1,048 factories. In the first week of April 2020, RMG exports declined by almost 84 per cent. Since then the RMG exports could not pick up to the desired level of growth due to constricted demand and radical shifts in consumer tastes apart from Covid-19-related obstacles, according to Bangladesh Live News. According to Policy Insights, a flagship publication of the Policy Research Institute in Bangladesh, the country's RMG has considerably grown in recent decades increasing from USD 120,000 in FY 1985 to about USD 34 billion in 2019. However, all the growth came in with massive over-concentration in a few products and few markets. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) estimate, Bangladesh's growth, which had declined to 3.5 per cent in 2020 due to covid-19 led disruptions recovered to 6.9 per cent in 2021.
Source: Livemint
The aim of the project is to support the conservational efforts to support the thriving population of the Tiger community while celebrating the nation's majestic species According to media sources, Textile brand Warp ‘n Weft has partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature India for the launch of the ‘Chakradhara’ collection, a clothing line in commemoration of National Handloom Day which was on August 7. Media sources further reported that the clothing line weaves together the stripes of the tiger and its closeness with nature and sustainability while representing the essence of Indian crafts and culture. Supported by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), the project stands for love for tigers and the conservation efforts to support the thriving population of the majestic animal, as reported by media sources. Shraman Jha, Director of Marketing, Communications and Fundraising WWF India, reportedly said ‘Chakradhara’ represents a unique partnership that brings together the two national heritages of India –handlooms and tigers. Sh. U.P. Singh Jha, Secretary (Textiles), attended the launch of ‘Chakradhara’ in New Delhi and also held an interactive session with the attendees, as reported by media sources. U.P Singh reportedly said, “Five decades of dedicated efforts to conserve tigers in India has brought out some significant results, a thriving population of big cats, the highest among all tiger range countries. We thank Warp ‘n Weft for conceptualising and weaving the Banarasi handloom collection to celebrate the tiger. (sic)” Sagrika Rai, Founder & Creative Director, Warp ‘n Weft, reportedly said, “It is a strong, impactful collaboration between two ethical institutions. We pledge to contribute a part of the sales proceeds to WWF India, contributing to nature and wildlife conservation. (sic)” National Handloom Day has been celebrated on August 7 every year since 2015 to observe the launch of the 1905’s Swadeshi Andolan, which had encouraged indigenous industries and in particular, handloom weavers.
Source: Indulge press
