Apparel Made Ups & Home Furnishing Sector Skill Council
Productivity in the Apparel sector given
COVID-19 pandemic
Apparel Industry in India
India is one of the largest producers of Textiles and Apparel in the world. The industry employs
45 million people in India making it the second-largest employer of the country. With the
availability of skilled manpower and competitive manufacturing costs, the industry is seen to
have steady growth over the years.
The Textile and Apparel industry contributes 2.3% to India’s GDP, 7% of the country’s
manufacturing production and 13% of the country’s export earnings (Invest India, 2020).
Impact of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a lot of distress worldwide. In India, since the
nationwide lockdown, millions of people have faced unemployment, pay cuts and many have
migrated to their hometown. The apparel sector has been affected majorly by the pandemic by,
1. Labour force
The Apparel sector employs millions of people. With the nationwide lockdown
due to the rise of COVID-19 cases, many production units had been closed and
the apparel sector had come to a standstill. The labourers chose to go back to
their villages with rising unemployment and wage cuts. This large-scale
migration of labours now raises a major question as to how the apparel sector
will rise back to its feet with the loss of its workforce.
2. Demand
The domestic consumption of apparels has been impacted severely due to
nationwide lockdown. With the decrease in footfall in the mall's many stores
have been shut for months facing an inventory build-up. Although many stores
and malls have reopened, the apprehension of the people has reduced their
consumption. With such low demand, the prices have been falling making it
hard to break-even.
3. Exports
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the apparel exports as well as
imports worldwide. With the increasing order cancellations, deferral of orders
and restrictions, there has been huge inventory build-up. As the export orders
