YOUR CARGO'S JOURNEY

AT CONTAINER PORT JNPT, MORE THAN A THOUSAND CONSIGNMENTS ARRIVE DAILY FOR SHIPPING OVERSEAS. BT TRACKS THE JOURNEY OF ONE SUCH CONSIGNMENT TO SEE THE IMPACT OF EXPORT-ORIENTED REFORMS

- RAJAT MISHRA

IT'S A MUGGY July evening in Ludhiana, a bustling town of over 1.6 million in Punjab that is renowned for its apparel production and exports. In the lush green premises of Eveline International on G.T. Road in the Dhandari Kalan area, a group of labourers huddle together, discussing the time and the right way to load the day's consignment. Arun Salhotra, General Manager of the 70-year-old manufacturer of knitted apparels, says its 1,600 employees produce nearly 400,000 pieces of high-quality garment per month, which are exported to top American brands like Guess, Faherty and Nautica, the UK-based Burton of London, Spanish brand Massimo Dutti, French brand Armand Thiery, and several Indian brands as well. "We are witnessing growth in our exports and that is being reflected in our numbers, too. In FY22 we had turnover of ₹150 crore, which was higher than ₹140 crore in FY20," says Salhotra. For perspective, ready-made garments comprised 36 per cent of India's textile exports of $44 billion in FY22. At $16 billion, exports of such garments rose by 31 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

It's July 15, 6 pm, and the labourers sweat and grunt as they load ready-made T-shirts on to a truck. The consignment is being dispatched to Guess and Faherty. As the labourers load the consignment, Pawan Sharma, Logistics Head at Eveline International, keeps a sharp watch, ensuring that everything goes all right. "Today, we are dispatching 7,500 pieces of ready-made garments. Tomorrow, another 12,000 pieces will be dispatched and on Sunday, another consignment with 9,000 pieces will be dispatched. So, this week is a bit hectic for us," says Sharma, wiping a stream of sweat rolling down his forehead.