Tiruppur’s $4 billion knitwear hub bets big on new markets and green push

WHEN INDIA liberalised its economy in the 1990s, Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu had already made the shift from agriculture to industry, with scores of small cotton knitwear units, moving up the value chain from just cotton ginning units. Tiruppur was like any other small town industrialising the licence-raj way. Educated youths from cotton and paddy farming families in the Noyyal River basin, a tributary of the Cauvery, set up small knitwear units producing male innerwear and T-shirts. Brands such as Tantex and Ramraj soon began to sell across India. Committed young entrepreneurs transported bundles of fabric and finished products on their TVS 50s, India’s first moped, from unit to unit on the maze of dirt roads that turned into sludge-filled ponds in the monsoons (Tiruppur did not have a drainage or sewerage system). Traders from all over India came to the railheads at Podanur and Tiruppur to buy hosiery in bulk, staying overnight in dodgy hotels. Things improved when Tiruppur began receiving export orders. Exporters had to go to Coimbatore, which had become an industrial hub in the 19th century, to send a telex to the buyer. Soon, Tiruppur began receiving large export orders. Aspiring exporters bargained with buyers from the U.S. and Europe in pidgin English. Liberalisation also sparked a boom in 24x7 STD telephone booths, from where people could call any number in the world directly. Then, in the 2000s, Tiruppur was one of the first Indian towns to tap into the Internet, mobile phones, and then smartphones. The dollars brought prosperity — big mansions, top-end cars and even Tiruppur’s first civic body and drainage system. In 2008, Tiruppur became the headquarters of a new district named after itself. Foreign importers sometimes rejected entire consignments because a stitch was out of place. There were stories of how a millionaire exporter went bankrupt and had to become a master tailor again or take a small unit on lease, and climb back up the ladder. Many units got into trouble for using child labour (India’s Child Labour Act was passed in 1986). Child labour was common across some industrial clusters in Tamil Nadu in those days. Then, pollution became a hot word. People noticed that the water of the Noyyal and its tributaries changed colour every other day, depending on the batch being dyed by the dyeing and bleaching units that emptied their effluents untreated into drains that flowed into the river. Farmers downstream protested and took the units to court, which ordered the closure of all dyeing units. The 2000s were marked by the recession sparked by the 2008 collapse of the global financial system. The next decade brought demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax. Despite all these blows, Tiruppur hasn’t lost its shirt — or its vest. Arumugam Sakthivel, vice chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) and honorary chairman of the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (TEA), which he founded, says, “We are now one of the largest cluster-based industries worldwide.” “Except for two or three such textile clusters in China, you will not see anywhere in the world the kind of infrastructure and systems we have created here over the years as a cluster industry, investing over ₹5,000 crore,” Sakthivel says. Sakthivel, chairman of the $100-million Poppys Group, who began as one of those early entrepreneurs in 1973, says that Tiruppur town has transformed into a beautiful, planned, and green city with good roads and excellent civic infrastructure facilities. How it began Tiruppur’s destiny was set in 1953 when one Gulam Kader and two friends went to Calcutta, dreaming of making a movie, but returned with two knitwear sewing machines (normal sewing machines don’t work on knitwear). A few decades later, when a workers’ strike crippled the hosiery hubs in Salem and Madurai for years, Tiruppur’s entrepreneurs grabbed the chance. Slowly, they set up small units of the knitted garment-making ecosystem, including knitting, dyeing and bleaching, compacting and stentering, sewing and embroidery, packaging and printing units, and ancillary units specialised in everything from buttons to zippers. In 1971, an Italian buyer visited Tiruppur and placed a small order, marking the first export order. By 1983, Tiruppur had 15 exporters with a combined revenue of ₹5-6 crore, all of which came from Europe. Today, Tiruppur manufactures over 70% of the knitted garments produced in India and accounts for approximately 55% of the country’s total knitted garment exports. In value terms, Tiruppur exports ₹40,000 crore of knitwear and sells ₹25,000 crore in the Indian market. The industry employs over one million people, including 600,000 direct jobs. Of them, 70% are women, more than half of whom come from north Indian states for a living. The Tiruppur cluster has at least 100 spinning mills, over 500 knitting units, 450 dyeing and bleaching units, 500 printing units, more than 1,000 cutting and garment-making units, 400 embroidery units, and at least 100 units each for items such as elastic tape, labels, and zippers. Of the TEA’s 1,323 members, around 100 account for ₹20,000 crore of production. At least 10 units, including SCM, Eastman, KPR, SP Apparels, KM Knitwear, Royal Classic, Ramraj and JJ Mills, have annual revenues of ₹1,000-4,000 crore. The major exporters have established large, integrated facilities, from spinning yarn to stitching garments, using the latest machines and technology. Kumar Duraiswamy, joint secretary of the TEA and CEO of Eastern Global Clothing, says, “We export to over 100 countries… 55% of our exports are to the leading European brands, 35% to the U.S. main brands and 10% to Canada and Middle East countries.’’ Tiruppur’s ups and downs have brought about one transformation that is here to stay. People no longer splurge on lifestyles; they prefer to reinvest their profits in the business. Rahul Damodar, a communications professional who has been associated with Tiruppur for three decades, says, “Unlike a few decades ago, exporters have learnt their lessons and most of the profits are ploughed back to modernise and expand the business.” The majority of the units are still unorganised, classified as MSMEs, or medium, small, and micro enterprises. By the turn of the 20th century, Coimbatore had become the Manchester of India, with numerous cotton yarn spinning mills. Nearby Karur and Erode specialised in hand-woven printed garments. Putting its past behind As export orders flowed in, Sakthivel of Poppys and some other exporters worked to get the Union and state governments to build the infrastructure. In 1991, the 100-acre Tirupur Export Knitwear Industrial Complex (TEKIC) came up to house 189 industrial sheds. TEA established a public school in 1995 and the NIFT-TEA Knitwear Fashion Institute in 1997. In January 2005, the Netaji Apparel Park, the first of its kind in India, was established on 166 acres to house 52 knitwear units, with a focus on apparel exports. The TEA and AEPC have built an international trade fair complex, the India Knit Fair, and have so far conducted 49 knit fairs, attracting top buyers from around the world. Half a dozen luxury hotels have come up in the region, besides numerous bank branches, government offices and export-oriented infrastructure. For Tiruppur’s units, the largest infrastructure initiative was the establishment of ZLD, or zero-liquid discharge, facilities. The cost was prohibitive, but everyone contributed. Tiruppur’s industry guzzles 130 million litres of water every day. After a lengthy court battle, in October 2011, the Madras High Court ordered the closure of over 700-odd dyeing and bleaching units until they had a ZLD system in place. Many units had to outsource their bleaching and dyeing work to Delhi or Surat. Clusters of units set up common effluent treatment plants (CETPs). One such was set up at Angeripalayam, with 80 members contributing ₹102 crore. C.B. Bhaskaran, director of the Angeripalayam CETP, says, “With some trial and error, we managed ZLD.” Two pipelines connect each member unit with the CETP — one transports the raw effluents to the plant, and the other returns the processed water. Tiruppur has 18 CETPs, including the one at Angeripalayam, which cover 370 dyeing and bleaching units. The big firms have separate plants. K.M. Subramanian, the current TEA president, says, “Now 96% of water is recycled and reused for industrial usage.” Subramaniam is the chairman and founder of KM Knitwear, one of the largest integrated exporters. The New Tirupur Area Development Corporation Ltd (NTADCL), a ₹1,150 crore public-private partnership project, was established to get water from the Cauvery River, approximately 55 km away. The NTADCL supplies water to industries, residents, and 30-plus villages around Tiruppur. It also includes a sewage system. Greening Tiruppur Tiruppur is also keeping abreast of trends in sustainability and textile waste management, says M. Anand of Dean Textile, who heads the branding and sustainability initiatives of the exporters. “The industry in Tiruppur has installed 1,600 MW of wind power and 350 MW of solar power. We require only 250 MW. The rest of the green power is given to the Tamil Nadu power grid,’’ he says. Textile waste was an issue in Tiruppur. In collaboration with Reverse Resources, a SaaS platform for recycling, Tiruppur has shipped over 3 million kg of textile waste, with 2 million kg sent to recyclers, receiving yarn in return. Within two years, Tiruppur will be recycling 15 million kg, says Anand. Another initiative, in collaboration with Fair Trade, promotes sustainability and fair trade practices, ensuring inclusivity by involving all MSMEs in the region. About 150-200 companies participate in each of the periodic workshops. Another partner, Green Story, is now implementing Digital Product Passports and Life Cycle Assessments, aiming to make the cluster sustainable through document verification. In collaboration with sustainability expert Bluesign, MSMEs receive e-learning classes on sustainable practices and global standards. Already, 100 factories have enrolled for the programme. The future is well-knit India, the world's sixth-largest exporter of textiles and apparel, holds a 3.9% share in global textile and apparel trade. Ready-made garments (RMG) with export of $8,733 million has the largest share (41%) in total exports ($21,358 million), followed by cotton textiles (33% or $7,082 million) and man-made textiles (15% or $3,105 million) during April-October of FY25, according to data from the Ministry of Textiles. China supplies half of the world’s textile market, both directly and indirectly, followed by Bangladesh, which holds a share of approximately 16%. Vietnam follows with a 6.4% share. Turkey, Italy, Indonesia, the U.S., Germany and Thailand also compete with Indian manufacturers. With shifting global trade dynamics, including the U.S.-China trade war and recent unrest in Bangladesh, new opportunities are emerging for exporters in Tiruppur. India has signed FTAs with Australia and the U.A.E. and is negotiating FTAs with the U.K. and the European Union. Bangladesh’s duty-free access, granted due to its status as a Least Developed Country (LDC) and its FTA with the European Union, is set to expire by 2027. That will open up a significant market for Tiruppur, says Sakthivel. Eyeing the opportunity, India is negotiating an FTA with the EU and the U.K. to get zero-duty advantages. “EU nations impose about 10-12% import duties, and now we are not in a position to compete with Bangladesh,” says Duraiswamy of TEA. Bangladesh exported over 60% of its apparel production to the EU, worth $19.77 billion, in 2024. Sakthivel says, “Now Tiruppur is growing at 15-18%. If the U.K. and EU negotiations materialise and Bangladesh’s EU FTA expires, our year-on-year growth could jump to 35-40%.” Sakthivel says another shift is underway in Tiruppur, which is predominantly known for producing cotton apparel for summer wear. Many units are adopting man-made fibres, such as polyester and rayon, as well as sustainable technical textile fabrics. That will throw open the gates to the world of winter wear garments across the globe. Tiruppur will continue to knit new heights in clothing the world. Fortune India is now on WhatsApp! Get the latest updates from the world of business and economy delivered straight to your phone. Subscribe now.

Tiruppur’s $4 billion knitwear hub bets big on new markets and green push

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