UK buyers look at higher sourcing from Tiruppur

The India - UK trade pact is bringing orders to textile clusters in Tamil Nadu.

| Photo Credit: SIVA SARAVANAN S

Garment buyers in the UK are looking at increasing purchases from Tiruppur as the India – UK free trade agreement is coming into force from July 15.According to A. Sakthivel, chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), buyers who are sourcing from Tiruppur or India are increasing the orders. And some of the new buyers who are sourcing from Bangladesh are also turning to India.While Tiruppur is a leader in knitwear, Bengaluru is a hub for woven shirts, Delhi is a hub for garments. “India has an advantage over countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam because of availability of raw material. So, there may be manufacturers in India who will be able to quote lower prices,” he said.The impact of the free trade agreement will be felt in a couple of months, Mr. Sakthivel said.Buyers wanted to increase their purchases from India. However, they were not sure when the trade pact will come into effect. Some of the UK brands have been scouting for new suppliers in India for the last seven to eight months.Earlier, Tiruppur was a major supplier of core garments to the UK. With Bangladesh getting duty free access, Tiruppur lost a lot of orders. These will return to Tiruppur as India will also have duty free access now, say exporters in the knitwear town.Currently, 10 % of Tiruppur’s exports are to the UK. The purchasing trend of customers in the European countries has changed. Even large brands are introducing economy lines and smaller retailers are seeing higher sales and opening new stores. So, the demand has reduced for premium garments. All these are offering more opportunities for clusters such as Tiruppur, they say. Published - June 30, 2026 09:23 pm IST