Sivaramakrishnan Ganapathi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Gokaldas Exports
Textile manufacturer Gokaldas Exports expects India to gain more global apparel sourcing business as tariff parity with competing destinations and an advantage over China and Vietnam, prompts buyers to increase sourcing from the country.“We see a lot of Europeans looking at India... Americans are rebalancing their portfolio to get again increasing their weightage towards India,” said Sivaramakrishnan Ganapathi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Gokaldas Exports during a post-quarter analyst call.The company had posted 7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in profit after tax (PAT) to ₹44 crore for the first quarter of FY27, while total income rose 21 per cent to ₹1,180 crore.Outerwear presenceThe company said it is noticing a broad-based move to explore India across product categories. Buyers are also exploring shirts, bottoms and denim, beyond India’s traditional strength in high-value apparel. The company expects revenue in the second quarter to be similar to that of the first quarter, with its order book already providing visibility for the second quarter and orders for the third and fourth quarters being booked. Management mentioned that Q2 is typically seasonally weaker, but Gokaldas’ strong outerwear presence should help it maintain the Q1 revenue profile.The company’s India business grew 16 per cent YoY in the quarter, even as Indian apparel exports declined 12 per cent during the same period, while its Africa business grew 44 per cent, supported by the renewal of AGOA.Africa capacityGokaldas expects its African operations to provide another growth lever in the second half. While the company has not yet increased second-shift operations, management said its order book would require it to step up capacity utilisation in Q3 and Q4.“Come Q3, Q4, our order book itself will force us to step up more capacity again by utilising the second shift operations,” Ganapathi said. Africa provides greater flexibility for second-shift operations, he added.Its facilities in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are also progressing on schedule, with the second Madhya Pradesh unit expected to approach full capacity utilisation by Q4.Shipping disruptionThe company, however, continues to face logistics disruptions, with container availability and shipping schedules affected by geopolitical tensions and weather disruptions.“Even our outbound shipping, for instance, sometimes gets delayed by two weeks,” Ganapathi said. The delays have resulted in finished goods sitting at ports and have extended the time taken to realise receivables. The company expects logistics conditions to ease over the next two quarters.Published on August 13, 2026
