Where do most t-shirts get manufactured in India ? The T-shirt City
Tirupur is also named T-Shirt City. Tirupur is a hub for t-shirt manufacturers today, with 9,000 t-shirt manufacturing units. This city is an immense surprise for the whole of India. In 1937 the first knitwear unit was established by Gulam Kadar, and today there are many such units producing t-shirts. This city is spread over 27 sq km. The only focus of this city is manufacturing t-shirts. Each and every unit in Tirupur is focused on only one thing, which is t-shirt manufacturing. T-shirt manufacturers in Tirupur have employed 7,00,000 Lakhs workers directly and 4,00,000 workers indirectly. The total revenue that this city has generated in 2019–2020 was $6 Billion which is too much for such a small city. [Source of Information]
The contribution of this city to export t-shirts is 80%. Earlier, Tirupur was only manufacturing low-quality t-shirts in bulk, but now they are manufacturing Polo T-shirts, Shirts, Sportswear, Undergarments, Ladieswear, and Childrewear. Tirupur Export Association has also helped to build NIFT [National Institute of Fashion Technology], this has helped to generate knitwear professionals. This Institute’s primary focus has been the development of skills and Imparting Knowledge regarding the Fashion Industry. In Tirupur, many big companies procure t-shirts in bulk, like Tommy-Hilfigure, H&M, Zara, Mango, and Gap.
How Tirupur Became T-shirt Manufacturing Hub
Entrepreneurial Mindset of Local People
In Tirupur, they have this Mantra “Yesterday’s Workers Today’s Entrepreneur,” At starting many units were categorized as Micro units, but now those units have become large units gradually. The entrepreneur here focused on their core business of cotton t-shirt manufacturing, which helped them achieve what they have today. One thing that has immensely helped the city is its unity. When taking orders, they are competitive here, but if one needs help to fulfill those orders, everyone tries to help him. Labor is scarce here and one of the reasons behind this scarcity is yesterday’s labor is today’s entrepreneur.
Several Association has also contributed
· Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC)
· South Indian Hosiery Manufacturers’ Association (SIHMA)
· Tirupur Exporters Association
· Knit Cloth Manufacturers Association
· Tirupur Dyers Association and Tirupur Export Knit Printers Association (UNIDO, 2005).
All this Association has helped the manufacturers come together and work in harmony. An example of one of the advantages of this union is there was a time when the government increased the tariff on the import of cotton and yarn, so to protest this decision, the units in Tirupur were closed for the whole day. This government decision did affect the entire Indian textile market, but such protest was only seen at Tirupur.[Source of Information]
Support from Tamil Nadu Government
Tamil Nadu is pushing its limits to support the textile market. They supported the textile market by boasting of the lucrative Tamil Nadu technical textiles policy with a thrust on medical textiles and MSME policy. They are supporting this industry. Their budget is also proof that they are focusing on increasing skilled workers, ease of workers’ immigration, mobile information and help centers to their details, and decreasing unforeseen incidents. The State government has also reduced the 1% cess on cotton and waste cotton. They have also urged the union government to support this industry by lowering the price of raw materials.
All types of raw materials and Supporting Units are available
T-shirt manufacturers in Tirupur are fine in procuring raw materials. Various kinds of raw materials are available; Soft Fabric and Lightweight fabric is a specialty of Tirupur. In Tirupur, all supporting units are also there. Like every type of printing can be done there, Embroidery specialty units are there.
Is Tirpur also an Export City?
Tirupur has made a significant contribution to export. It is contributing 80% of the total knitwear export of India, and out of total export of india it contributes 4% and 13.5% of the total export of Tamil Nadu. In 2021–2022 the total export of knitwear items from Tirupur was around $4.8 billion. The Tirupur export story was started in 1978 by an Italian merchant named Verona. He came with a Mumbai exporter to Tirupur, and he was pretty surprised with the t-shirt’s quality. He was like the brand ambassador of Tirupur in Europe. In 1981 the first big label came to Tirupur to procure t-shirts and placed continuous orders for their t-shirts afterward. In today’s time, many USA and European brands manufacture their t-shirts in bulk at Tirupur. Some brands are H&M, Zara, Mango, Tommy Hilfiger, and Gap. 60% of the USA population likely owns around ten t-shirts which are manufactured in Tirupur.[Source of Information]
Here the t-shirts are supplied to these brands at a very low price, like a max of $7.5, and they sell those t-shirts by marking up the price to 600%, that would be between $45 to $50.
Problems Faced by T-shirt Manufacturing Hub
Past Problems
- The Government of Madras Verdict
The High Court of Madras in 2011 ruled that those units imitating harmful gas should be shut down. This led to 173 units coming to a halt, and the production capacity of the city hit the bottom rock. After some time, every unit adopted the Effluent Treatment Plant and resumed their unit, and the units resumed their 100% capacity, and the demands were fulfilled.
Present Problems
- Low Worker Availability and Job Hopping
In Tirupur, there is no problem in getting raw materials. The industries have High-Tech machines to fulfill orders, but the problem they face is the low availability of skilled workers. Most of the Units in Tirupur are running at 50% capacity, whereas demand needs the unit to run at 100% capacity.
- High Tariff on Import of Fiber
In India, you have to pay import duty on the import of fiber. If the government imposes 0 import duty on it, then weaving, Spinning, and Knitting all this process can be done in india. This means we do not have to import Yarn and Cotton from China and will be able to compete with them in the international market for finished goods.
- Using Waterways for Transportation
As the cotton balls are purchased from Gujarat, and they are transported to Tirupur through roadways, which adds up drastically to the cost, to reduce it, the government can run a program to transport cotton through waterways which will decrease the cost to a reasonable extent.
Catcheyes, a T-shirt Manufacturing Company in Tirupur
We are a Tirupur-based t-shirt manufacturing company. We have been in the garment manufacturing industry for eight years. We manufacture all types of t-shirts in bulk: Round Neck, Collar, Full Sleeves, Half Sleeves, and Blank T-shirts. We provide T-shirts at competitive prices. Supplying t-shirts all over India. Visit our website to learn more
Originally Written by Catcheyes