Apparel April 2019 Apparel April 2019 issue | Page 34

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
OF EXPECTATIONS AND
PROGRESS!
Samir Alam explores what the apparel industry can expect from the New
Industrial Policy in 2019.
In the economic realm, the release of the interim
Union Budget for 2019 was the biggest talking
point in February 2019. Interim Finance Minister
Mr Piyush Goyal announced major new proposals
that were recognised as being a boost for salaried
workers and small businesses. Moreover, the
budget also proposed measures to secure
the pension needs of workers in the massive
unorganised sectors of the economy. This was
combined with features that would slowly reduce
GST rates on a wide assortment of consumer
goods that benefit the lower and middle income
groups. But the single largest focus of the budget
was oriented towards the future, with job creation
being at the top of the agenda. In this regard,
the budget is only partially responsible as it can
only lay out a year’s worth of planning. For the
long term growth of manufacturing-oriented
businesses such as apparel, the real concern lies
28
I APPAREL I
April 2019
in the nation’s Industrial Policy. As we inch closer
to the release of the New Industrial Policy of India,
let's take a look at what the apparel industry can
expect it to offer.
FROM THE OLD TO THE NEW
The Indian economic landscape has transformed
rapidly in the last 30 years. From once being on
the brink of defaulting on its balance of payments
to being one of the largest global economic
superpowers, it was only with economic liberalisation
that India transformed its methods of industrial
planning and implemented the New Industrial Policy
of 1991, becoming one of the fastest growing
economies in the world. In contrast to the context
which gave birth to this New Industrial Policy, the
current scenario is radically different. In the last
27 years, the very fabric of national and global
economic forces has changed.