The Hindu Business Line : Textiles: ‘India can catch up with China’

Visakhapatnam, Jan.23 China has a head start over India in the global textile market, with the former enjoying a market share of almost 20 per cent against the latter’s three per cent, but still India can catch up, given the right policy framework and encouragement by the Government, says Mr Martin Trust, the president of Brandot International Ltd.

Brandot is an American investment company specialising in creating joint ventures with apparel and textile companies, mainly in South Asia and the Far-east. Mr Trust, with over five decades of experience in the textile sector, founded the company in 2001.

He visited the Brandix India Apparel Park at Atchyuthapuram in Visakhapatnam district on Wednesday. Brandot has 25 per cent stake in the project. “It is an excellent project. Our experience with Brandix in Sri Lanka has been very good and the company has generated over 1.5 lakh jobs there and it has emerged as one of the leading exporters from the country,” he said in an interview with Business Line.

He expressed hope that the Indian project here too would prove as useful for the development of the region. “Brandix India has promised to generate 60,000 jobs here and there is no reason why the promise can’t be fulfilled. The project is going on well,” he said.

In response to a query about the pace of the project, he said, “This is a special economic zone and India is not China. You have a democracy here and it is a complex project. It takes time.”

Drawing a comparison with China, he said both the countries had a large labour force and a strong cotton base. “But China has created huge fabric capacities and they have the advantages of scales of economy. If more such apparel parks come up in India, you too can catch up. It won’t be easy but I am bullish on India too,” he said.

Quotas

Asked to comment on quotas in the textile sector restricting access to the US market, he said that in principle such protectionist policies could not be supported, as the US was an avowed votary of free trade. “But in the US too there are pressures from local politicians, even if the Federal Government is not for it,” he said. However, he said India is not likely to face problems. “India may not be encouraged, but there may not be many restrictions either,” he said.

In response to a question on genetically modified cotton, he said, “As far as I am concerned, it is as good as conventional cotton. However, the environmental ramifications will have to be studied,” he remarked.

Tie-up

On Brandot’s Indian ventures, he said the company had tied up with the Coimbatore-based Bannari Amman group. “A state-of-the-art plant is coming up in Chennai and it may be commissioned in March. A pilot project is already working there. We have also tied up with KPR Spinning mill in Coimbatore,” he said.

He said Brandot wanted to introduce an international brand in India. “We are studying the market here. The rising middle class and the growing retail segment in the country are very encouraging signs. However, the project is still in the preliminary stage,” he concluded.

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