Impact Of Covid-19 On The Garment And Apparel Industry In India

While the Garment and Apparel Industry was struggling to stay afloat in India, before the pandemic, the problem worsened during lockdown and forced businesses to face an unprecedented disruption from production to supply chains.

- Samir Alam

Even before the pandemic had entered India, the Garment and Apparel Industry had been struggling to stay afloat. Until 2019, the Garment and Apparel Industry had had a lion’s share of export earnings. Nearly 15 percent of all earnings were from textiles and apparels. Moreover, according to KPMG, the industry also employed four and a half crore workers, making it one of the largest employers in the nation. However, the industry was far from its peak even before the arrival of Covid-19 in India. The pandemic compounded pre-existing problems and forced businesses to face an unprecedented disruption right from production to its supply chains. As a result, it raised the grave question of whether the industry would survive this turmoil or not.

UNPRECEDENTED AND WIDE SPREAD IMPACTS

The effects of the pandemic forced the nation into a state of lockdown shuttering operations in one fell stroke. As some of the most severe lockdowns were brought into effect, premier garment manufacturing hubs in the country such as Noida, Delhi, Jaipur, and Bengaluru were forced to shut shop. With the pressure continuing to mount over time, businesses began to contend with rising levels of stagnant inventory due to a precipitous fall in demand. Most manufacturers even had to shut down businesses between April and May 2020, as orders to Europe and United States dropped by almost 50 percent.