The Indian clothing and accessories industry’s growth is primarily driven by increasing demand for readymade clothes in rural areas, availability of more disposable income among the population and preference for branded clothes. The domestic apparel industry includes a number of categories such as clothes for men, women and children, apart from unisex clothes and uniforms. While menswear comprises the biggest segment, uniforms and womenswear are growing at a rapid pace. Apparel manufacture is the least capital intensive section of the textile value chain and is characterised by low entry barriers. At the same time, it is highly labour intensive and requires skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled labour. A large part of the Indian apparel industry is fragmented and unorganised since there are numerous companies which have entered the market due to the low entry barriers. This sometimes leads to manufacture of sub-standard products. At the same time, the good part is that Indian apparel exports are witnessing an upward shift as the apparel manufacturing base is shifting from developed countries such as the US and the EU to low-cost countries such as China, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh and many others. Hide this