The Economist reports India's garment industry will benefit from unrest in Bangladesh

In 1978, the first export-oriented garment factory was established in Bangladesh. After that, this garment industry has become the focal point of the country's economy. 10 percent of the country's total GDP comes from the garment sector. Of this, Dhaka exported 54 billion dollars of clothing last year alone. Only China is above Bangladesh in terms of garment exports in the world.

However, after the agitation against the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last July and August, the wheels of the garment industry stopped. Although the movement ended with the fall of Hasina, there is still unrest in this sector. Due to various demands of the garment workers, the production decreased. Besides, the production has also decreased due to gas crisis.

Can India's garment industry benefit from this instability in Bangladesh? Such a question of many. British weekly The Economist has analyzed this issue in a report.

India is the world's second largest producer of cotton, the newspaper said. They export these cotton to Bangladesh. However, although there is a lot of cotton production in India, the country is far behind Bangladesh in terms of the ready-made garment sector.

However, some exporters in the Indian state of Tripura said they have received new orders of $54 million due to the unrest in Bangladesh. Another group based out of New Delhi reported a 15 percent increase in orders from Spanish fashion firm Zara last August.

But India does not have the ability to compete with Bangladesh's garment industry right now, said industry analyst Mehdi Mahbub. He said, the current situation will go away. Meanwhile, workers have returned to factories and production is picking up. Besides, Bangladesh is ahead in various aspects than the competitors in the clothing sector. One of which is low wage workers. Even Bangladeshi clothing is preferred by European markets.

He also said that US fashion brands are "cautiously optimistic" about the future of Bangladesh.

Another expert said that at the moment India does not have the ability to compete with Bangladesh in the garment industry. He said that capital intensive sectors such as electronics have been given more importance in India. Labor dependent sectors like garment industry were not given importance. He said that from 2016 to 2023, the value of India's garment exports has decreased by 15 percent. There, Bangladesh has increased by 63 percent.