HINDUPUR, India : At Texport Industries' factories in India's south, thousands of mostly women workers are busy converting yarn and fabrics into T-shirts, shirts, spaghetti tops and kids' clothes for U.S. customers of Tommy Hilfiger and Kohl's Corp.
The company is scouting for land to add new factories around its main production base in Hindupur, about 100 km north of tech hub Bengaluru. Indian T&A companies say they are now adding new clients, selling more to old ones and raising production capacity as foreign buyers seek to diversify their supply chains.Still, some industry leaders said that unless India signed free trade agreements with Western countries - which New Delhi says it is working on - it would not be easy to outsell Bangladesh, which also enjoys preferential export terms from many buyers as a least developed country.
Two industry sources with knowledge of the matter said both Fast Retailing's Uniqlo and Gap Inc were in talks to expand purchases from India. The companies, who source from India mainly from the country's biggest garments exporter Shahi Exports, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. One factor behind the surge in sales for Indian companies to the United States and Europe in the past few quarters has been alleged rights abuses in China's main cotton growing province of Xinjiang, where the minority Muslim Uyghur community lives.
Raymond, an Indian exporter of men's suits, jackets and denim, said the China factor helped it recently sign up new clients that it had long pursued.