Santosh Kumar Gangwar inaugurates the apparel trade fair Galleria Intima 2015

Galleria Intima 2015, India’s biggest intimate apparel trade fair is being organized by Intimate Apparel Association of India (IAAI) with focus on intimate wear manufacturing in India. The objective of the entire exhibition is to focus on the strengths of the Indian industry that can be leveraged to position India as a leading manufacturing destination for intimate wear. The exhibition was inaugurated by Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Textiles (Independent Charge) yesterday.

Santosh Gangwar during the inauguration of an apparel show, said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) is important, and they are trying to convince the Finance Minister for keeping the textile industry in the lowest level slab.

A white paper on ‘Make in India, Make for the World: Developing India as a quality intimate supplier for global markets’ was also released by the Textile Minister.

One of the focal points of Galleria Intima is to be the transformation of the intimate apparel sector of the country to make it emerge as the next major hub of intimate wear manufacturing. The exhibition showcased everything from fibres to laces, to hooks and packaging.

Visitors from a wide variety of sectors including brand owners, manufacturers of intimate wear, designers, export houses, large format retailers, online retailers, buying houses were part of it. More than 1000 brands from India alone along with 80 exhibitors from 10+ Countries and 15 Chinese companies participated, bringing with them their storehouse of raw materials, making Galleria Intima 4.0 an all-encompassing platform for intimate apparel.

At Galleria Intima 2015, one of the central aims would be on how to Make In India and sell the “Made in India” in the international market as well as derive the incidental benefit of enhancing domestic consumption.

Inaugurating the gathering Santosh Kumar Gangwar said that the intimate wear industry is highly capable of increasing the exports of the nation to European, Japanese and American markets. With domestic demand on the rise, it is also important for good quality products to be manufactured within the country to replace imports.

Besides, the Minister outlined the ambitious goal of raising India’s share in global textile exports to 10 percent in the next five years, from the five percent at present, amounting to $40 billion with focus on Make in India. He showed confident that India’s textile industry will not lose out to China despite the fact that the country is the largest cotton producer in the world ahead of India. He also highlighted the need for a change in labour laws in the country, especially to ensure flexibility of work timings for female workers.

Yusuf Dohadwala, the CEO of Intimate Apparel Associations of India points out that, India has been a sleeping giant in the category of intimate wear for quite a long time. This is the time to wake the giant out of its slumber and show its true potential to the world. The ‘Make in India’ drive initiated by honourable Prime Minister is sure to help them in commencing the golden age of the Intimate Wear Industry in the country. The next 5-10 years look very promising.

India has seen a remarkable growth in exports through the years as well, with intimate wear accounting for US$ 1.2 billion in the financial year 2013, a contribution of 4% of total global trade in the intimate apparel category. The intimate apparel category includes a vast range of clothing items, varying from lingerie, underwear, loungewear and nightwear to shape-wear, swimwear, socks & stockings and more.