KNITCON – 2016 opened to a packed hall of over 250 delegates at The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata on 16th September 2016. In his Introduction, Pradeep Arora, Convener spoke about the Conference and how it had evolved from its first avatar, which was held in May 2015.
He gave an outline of the Conference – briefly intimating the gathering about the speakers and experts who had come from South Korea, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Austria, Italy, USA and India to show their presentations.
In welcome address, K B Agarwala, president of FOHMA spoke about the changing trends and how technology was helping companies to scale up efficiently. He gave some insights about the Indian hosiery industry and how it had grown praiseworthily, despite 70% of units operating in the unorganized sector.
He felt that the slowing down of production in certain countries, the bullish nature of the fashion industry, inclination of cash rich consumers to buy newer and stylish outfits, were all contributors to the positive demand for hosiery products.
He further opined that the Rs. 6000 crore scheme of the Government of India to create 1 crore jobs was a positive in the right direction covering several benefits like Employee Provident Fund Scheme Reforms; increasing overtime caps; introduction of fixed term employment; additional incentives under ATUFS; enhanced duty drawback coverage; enhancing scope of Section 80JJAA of the Income Tax Act.
Agarwala’s speech was followed by the presentation of newly constituted “FOHMA Lifetime Achievement Award” to three stalwarts of the Indian hosiery industry for their extraordinary contributions. They were Dau Dayal Kothari, Chairman – Kothari Hosiery,P R Agarwala, Chairman – The Rupa Group and Dr. R C Jain, Chairman – T.T. Group.
B D Kothari, Sharad Bhatter, A C Eswaran and Rakesh Grover representing WBHA, BHMA, SIHMA and IAAI respectively were present on the dais as “Partners” who had supported FOHMA in organizing this Conference Knitcon – 2016.
During the course of the Inaugural Session, Rahul Mehta, president – The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) was present as the “Guest of Honour” and spoke on Building a Brand.
The day’s proceedings consisted of several Technical Sessions covering a wide variety of subjects including a Talk on Bengal as a Knitwear Hub; Spandex Yarn & Knitting Solutions; Processing; Printing; and Garmenting.
Apparel & Textile News – Apparel Talk, Indian Apparel
