Trade pact can generate 2.5 million jobs in India: Industry

New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) India will be able to bag extra
orders worth USD three billion for garment exports from the
European Union, if the country enters into a free trade
agreement with the EU, apparel exports body said on Monday.

"The India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will also help
generate 2.5 million jobs in the textiles and garments export
sectors and we would be able to export apparel worth an
additional USD 3 billion to EU," Chairman of the Apparel
Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Premal Udani said here in
north Indian state Uttar Pradesh.
India exported garments worth USD 5.68 billion to EU,
accounting for 55 per cent of the country's total apparel
shipments in the calendar year 2009, he said.
Inaugurating the India International Garment Fair here,
Textiles Secretary Rita Menon expressed hope that the FTA
with EU would be concluded by the end of the current fiscal.
"We have taken it (about India-EU trade talks) up with
the Commerce Secretary. I do hope that by the next fiscal,
there is something in store for the textile sector," she said.
Referring to the opportunities in the section, Udani said
the industry can take advantage of labour shortages and high
cost of production in China, which is India's strong
competitor in the global apparel market.
"In China, labour cost is 20 per cent more than India.
This is the greatest chance we have and I hope that we will be
able to seize it," he said.
The India-EU trade-opening pact is under negotiations for
the last two years. Several rounds of official level talks
have taken place.
The total bi-lateral trade in the previous fiscal was USD
74 billion. PTI RK
RBT