Tiruppur (Tamil Nadu), February 8 Exporters in the textile town of Tiruppur indicated on Sunday that the shipment of garments to the United States would double to ₹30,000 crore over the next three years following the signing of the India-US deal.
Tiruppur, located about 450 km west of Chennai, would also witness an increase in job creation to approximately 5 lakh during the period, according to K M Subramanian, president of the Tiruppur Exporters' Association.
India and the United States announced on Saturday that they had finalized the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, under which both sides would reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost two-way trade.
Commenting on the deal, Subramanian said, "We welcome this. This deal will provide significant growth for Tiruppur over the next 5 years."
Responding to a query, he said that currently, garment exports from Tamil Nadu are valued at ₹15,000 crore, and following the deal, they would double to ₹30,000 crore over the next three years.
Subramanian, also the founder-chairman of Tiruppur-based clothing manufacturer K M Knitwear Pvt Ltd, said that the India-US deal would create another 5 lakh jobs.
"Currently, about 10 lakh people are employed in this industry. It will witness the addition of another 5 lakh jobs over the next 3 to 5 years," he said.
Responding to a query, he said that the impact of the deal would be witnessed over the next three months. "After that, we will be able to see a good growth for (India-made) garments that will be exported from Tamil Nadu. Tiruppur's growth will be on a higher trajectory," he said.
Another Tiruppur-based entrepreneur and founder of Starrlight Exporters, M Rathinasamy, said that the deal would bring more orders from the United States to Tamil Nadu.
"Earlier, some of the orders were going to Bangladesh and other countries. After this deal, we will be getting more orders (from the United States)," Rathinasamy, also a member of the Tiruppur Exporters' Association, said.
"We expect that we will be getting a large number of orders on account of this deal," he said.
Responding to a query, he said that the existing orders that have already been secured by garment traders from the United States would be shipped according to the plan.
The Tiruppur Exporters' Association (popularly known as TEA) represents exporters of cotton knitwear who have production facilities in Tiruppur and neighbouring regions. Currently, TEA represents about 1,135 knitwear exporters.