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Overview of Tirupur
Knitwear Industry
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Tirupur textile industry has units all along the value chain of knitwear starting from spinning, knitting
wet processing, printing, garment manufacturing and exports. In addition there are ancillary units supplying
buttons, laces, embroidery, cones and yarn processing etc. Despite being late entrant, Tirupur’s annual
production far exceeds that of other knitwear clusters. There are more than 500 production units which are
involved in exports of knitwear from Tirupur. Entire Tirupur cluster generates direct employment for over
300,000 persons. Tirupur in 1981 had a meager share of 15% of the total knitwear exports from India and
by year 2000 its share reached a formidable figure of 51%. Recent informal surveys indicate that Tirupur
accounts for nearly 80% of basic circular cotton knitwear exports from India. In the year 2002-03 Tirupur
exports touched a value of Rs.3, 000 crores. It is expected that Tirupur exports will grow much faster than
the rest of India’s export economy. The rapid industrial development at Tirupur attracts workers from
different districts of Tamilnadu and neighbouring states seeking jobs.
Hundreds of thousands of floating industrial labour population at Tirupur had created a social
problem peculiar to the industrialization since the times of David Copperfield and Oliver Twist- abandoned
children and or child labour. The child labour issue in all organized export companies does not exist, thanks
to the social awareness of the exporters due to the most buyers demanding social accountability norms
which forbids employment of child labour. Kovai Child Labour Abolition Support Society a leading NGO
based at Collectorate Office in Coimbatore city (nearest airport for Tirupur and its district headquarters, 1
hour from Tirupur by road) has undertaken a central government funded National Child Labour Project
(NCLP) in 1995 and is very active in Tirupur and two neighbouring Talukas of Palldam and Avinashi. Total
80 schools are administered by the NCLP each school has students ranging from 50 to 100. This facility is
for the street and parent less children. The students study by play way method for one year and then join
regular schools. Every year about 1,300 to 2,000 such students pass out to join regular schools. The NCLP
is monitored by the project coordinators and every three month a review committee headed by the collector
reviews the progress. Besides this Migros, Swiss based buyers, have a card board tag on each of their
product declaring that a part of the sale proceed on that product will go as contribution to the child welfare of
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the region it is manufactured in. They fund to manage a school in Tirupur. Also the Tirupur Exporters
Association (TEA) manages a school for the children.
The Tirupur knitwear industry has been able to book orders from all the sophisticated world market
including European Union, U.S.A., Canada, Japan etc. besides increasing its export growth rate in non-
quota market. World renowned companies and labels buy from Tirupur, e.g. Nike, Lacoste, St. Michael,
Benetton, Jockey, Kiabi, Marks & Spencer, C&A, Tape L Oiel, J.C. Penny, Gallery Lafayette, Wal-Mart,
H&M, Old Navy, Quick Silver, Decathlon, Mother Care, Migros, Primark, Manor, S. Olivier, Euro Disney,
Group Andre, Tom Tailor, Tommy Hilfiger, Adidas, Carrefour, La Redout, 3 Suisse, Zara, Karstadt Quelle,
Monoprix, Devianne, Fila, Oxbro, Replay, Diesel, Nautica, Abacrobi & Stitch, MRK, to name a few.
If the TEA is successful in its efforts mentioned above the battle against competition will be half won since
what Tirupur mainly lacks today is a focused marketing device which can constantly give fashion inputs to
the industry and will ensure direct sales of competitively priced better end products.
To improve the brand image of Tirupur as a quality knitwear base, various merchandise testing
laboratories based at Tirupur have done commendable jobs viz.- ITS, SGS, Textile Committee and other
small supporting textile laboratories. The efforts from these laboratories has also helped directly or indirectly
in building the comfort level with the buyers and ensuring that the suppliers reduce the rejection percentage
in various manufacturing processes. The rejection percentage in terms of volume order has come down from
about 5% to a reasonable 1.5% approximately.
In terms of research work to upgrade the textile industry South India Textile Research Association
(SITRA) at Coimbatore is doing a good job with the yarn spinners, knitters and process houses based in and
around Tirupur. In order to provide educated, professional supervisory and managerial staff to the knitwear
industries of Tirupur and to help the industry to keep pace with modernization, latest innovations etc., many
institutions are directly contributing e.g. NIFT-TEA, ATDC-Tirupur, PSG College of Engineering, Institute of
Chemical Engineering- Erode, Tamilnadu Engineering College, Coimbatore etc.. Bharthiyar University has
proposed B.Sc.Fashion and Apparel Design courses focused on fashion knitwear and are considered to
match the best institutes in Asia.
Tirupur is determined to change the fixed opinion of most of the buyers about India especially that of
Tirupur that it is a destination for 100% cotton fiber product range with limited variations of cotton blends with
polyester or viscose fibers. Most buyers have a pre-conceived notion to plan or bring orders for 100% cotton
fiber products only for Tirupur-India as they think that most of the suppliers are efficient in only that product
and the orders for balance fibers or fiber blends go to other countries in Asia which are in direct competition
with India. To change this pre-conceived opinion of most of the buyers three leading companies of blend
fiber/yarn spinners are doing a commendable job noticeable in Tirupur-
The Lakshmi Mills, a leading textile spinning and weaving machine manufacturer, based at
Coimbatore has of late joined hands with Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers of textile machinery to
upgrade the technology of machinery and tool manufacturing, thus making available advance machinery
locally at competitive prices.
The spinning mills in and around Tirupur supplement their cotton requirements by importing from
U.S.A, Australia, Egypt etc. to spin good export quality yarn. Normal count range used in Tirupur for
manufacturing knitwear products is from 10s to 60s (only ring spun) single ply and two ply. The range of yarn
available is auto coned, electronically cleaned yarns available in mélange, slub, crepe, gassed mercerized,
space dyed, grindle apart from normal combed yarns. The mills which provide the reputable good quality
yarns are Eastman Spinning Mills, Suryavanshi, SSM Mills, Rasi Spinning Mills, Tirupur Textiles Pvt. Ltd.,
Chola Spinning Mills, Sulochana Cotton Spinning Mill, ARC Spinning mills, SCM Textiles, Amravathi
Spinning Mills, Amarjothi Spinning Mills, Royal Classic Spinning Mills, Best Cotton Spinning Mills,
Nachammai Cotton Mills, Pioneer Spinning Mills, Barani Spinning Mills, Centwin Spinning Mills, KPR
Spinning Mills, Prime Textiles etc. These mills sell direct to the exporters or through yarn agencies of
Tirupur. The spindle capacity of these mills individually ranges from 25,000 to 150,000 spindles each.
The climatic conditions are ideally suited for processing of the fabrics. The Process Houses in
Tirupur also have shown remarkable changes, keeping pace with the development in other sectors of the
knitwear industry. About 600 Processors, having small (1000 kg/day) to large (about 10,000 kg/day)
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capacities exist in Tirupur. Almost 50% of the wet processing is done by soft flow machineries which are
mostly imported like Thies, Sehalavos, Tong Jeng, Santex etc. the capacities of these soft flow machines
ranges between 50kg of sample dyeing bath to 1,500kg production per batch. The benefits of soft flow
machines are:
The yarn dyeing has shown considerable improvement with most of the process houses opting for
the cheese dyeing process. Advanced HT HP yarn dyeing or fabric dyeing vessels are common in most of
the leading process houses. The average capacity available with such process houses is about 3,000
kg/day.
Presently tubular processing and finishing is being done but the latest trend is open width fabric
finishing completely integrated system ensuring a flawless end product. The leaders in this are Shakthi Mills,
Chaya Industries, Victus Dyeing etc.. In near future the open width processing will be implemented by most
of the leading process houses. Also in - house facility or outsourcing of gassed mercerized yarn has helped
in eliminating any chance of pilling, hand feel and luster. GTN Textiles has excelled in yarn mercerizing.
Fabric mercerizing is also being done at Solo Knit Process, Chaya Industries, Aar Pee Colours, and
Brindhaa Processors etc. Different kind of garment washes, including perfume wash, pigment dye silicon
wash etc., UV protection chemical application on fabric for beachwear and active wear is possible in the
leading process houses of Tirupur such as Victus Dyeing, Stallion, PKP Processors, RA Knit Processors etc.
the drying of processed fabrics is being done by pole driers or the relax driers and the natural drying is
becoming obsolete. The benefit is quick drying, no handling stains, no crease marks etc. Compacting and
stenter the processes which are the heart of the process houses have shown remarkable improvement
lately. The machinery available for tubular compacting are Tubetex (U.S.A), Ferraro, Monti, Sperotto Rimar
(Italy), Albrecht, Weiss (Germany), Santex etc. about 200 imported machines are in operation in Tirupur. All
process houses in Tirupur have advanced ETP keeping in line with the buyer’s ecological concerns. Due to
the problem of scarcity of water in Tirupur new dyeing techniques have been adopted to reduce the liquor
ratio of the dye bath from 1:30 to 1:10.
The printing has advanced from table to semi-rotary to rotary and latest advanced machines are
being procured by Victus Dyeing, India Dyeing Mills, SCM Processing Mills, Mithunram Tex, Aar Pee Prints,
Venus Printing, Okay Prints etc. to keep abreast with the competition. Rotary printing offers better process of
pigment discharge and reactive prints. Printing processes like tie-dye, batik, and wax batik are commonly
available in Tirupur and surrounding areas. The table and chest printing with all kind of specialized variations
like flock, emboss, foil, spangle, transfer, rubber motif, glitter, foam, PVC welding, HD plastisol, gel printing,
embossing, caviver bead print etc are commonly available. The R&D in the wet processes are continuous in
the process houses which are aware of latest innovations like Victus Dyeing where thermal prints which
change colour when touched or perfume dyeing which becomes aromatically fragrant when rubbed etc are
commercially available.
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About 900 imported multi head computer embroidery machines are installed and functional in
Tirupur such as Barudan, Tajima, ZSK, Happy, Albrecht etc. 9 to 12 colours are possible in a single design
with these machines. Import of computerized chenille, chain, bead fixing embroidery machines is the latest
trend. There are single head computer machines also installed for customized logo embroideries. The
traditional manual embroidery machines like Aari and Chikan are also operating in Tirupur. There are
clusters of hand embroiders in and around Tirupur who excel in better than basic hand work.
Various latest software packages are available with most of the leading suppliers of Tirupur like
Lectra, Gerber, and Tuka Tech etc for speedy accurate pattern making & grading and efficient laying to
optimize fabric consumptions. The Tirupur industry is emerging from hand cutting to CAM cutting facility to
improve the all over cutting room efficiency. Also the cutting room, sewing floor and garment finishing
machineries are continuously being upgraded thanks to Mehala, IIGM, Turrel and others involved in garment
machinery consultancy and sales.
a) Knitted Collar & Cuff. Jacquard knitted and other customized collars & cuffs are being manufactured in
Tirupur area on Taiwanese and other advanced machinery.
b) Ropes & Tapes. A variety of rayon polyester tapes, silk ropes, twill tapes, cotton ropes as well as rope
tipping (heat sealing) and all sizes of stoppers and rubbers are now locally available. Added attraction
is the production of jacquard name twill tapes in multi color, rubber badges and transprints.
c) Hangers. Novelty hangers for the finished garments are locally available in a wide range. In some
cases hangers are offered with additional attachments such as plastic clips and clamps as per buyer
requirement.
d) Accessories. Full range of accessories like- 3D patches, embroidery patches with/without iron-on-fix,
special reflection badges, night glow radiant buttons, reflection zippers, diamond zippers and motifs
such as beads, studs, stones and foils (gold and silver) are being manufactured locally. However,
following accessories imported from Korea and Japan is easily available- quality buttons, rubber
laces, printed Velcro, creative buttons, rubber labels, jean denim patches, woven labels, metal logos,
metal boxes, leather printed patches, PVC labels and embossed patches.
e) Labels. With the help of computerized Rapier looms and cut & fold machines good quality woven
labels are locally manufactured on imported machines. There are a range of printed label machines
with attached sticker and die cuttings for foil embossing. 5 color-printed labels are also locally
manufactured.
The nearest port from Tirupur is Tuticorin about 8 to 9 hours by truck from Tirupur and has a list of
frequent daily sailing feeder vessels service to Colombo, where the mother vessels berth and is about 10
hours/overnight journey from port to port by sea. From Colombo it takes about 13 days sailing time to
Amsterdam. Maersk Logistics from Tuticorin has weekly FCL sailing to Salala in the middle-east, cutting
down the sailing time to 11 days. Tuticorin has yet to develop strongly in the infrastructure for efficient loose
cargo (LCL) handling. Chennai has better infrastructure and is about 12 to 14 hours
by truck, from Tirupur. At Chennai LCL cargo handling is much better and presently is the preferred port of
the buyers of the Taffles Group for their orders placed with the south suppliers. Other option for port is
Mumbai which is about 40 hours from Tirupur and about 30 hours from Bangalore by truck. In Mumbai
consolidation of LCL cargo can be optimized as cargo from Delhi is routed to Mumbai. Very few buyers
prefer Mumbai port to Chennai or Tuticorin for cargo from Tirupur.
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The social commitment and awareness of social compliance being an effective tool post 2004
scenario has ensured investment of the leading suppliers of Tirupur like Eastman, Reliance Dyeing, Victus
Dyeing Well knit and other like minded socially active suppliers to go in for activities like-
wind energy sponsorship (Reliance Dyeing, Victus Dyeing, KPR Industries besides others)
Reverse Osmosis ETP plant with zero effluent discharge (Reliance Dyeing Mills, Victus Dyeing, Aar
Pee Colour, Classics, Allwyn Processors, Chemtech Processors, Rajlakshmi, Rennaissance etc)
Forestation/Coconut & other useful tree plantation (Reliance Dyeing, Victus Dyeing, Fabrocrats
besides others)
Schools for the children of the workers employed by the industry and providing transportation for the
students with the help of buyers like Migros, C&A, Switcher etc or with the help of others or NGO
Hospitals with the help of the buyers like C&A and others or NGO
Medical Centers for the benefit of workers employed in the industry and their families with the Help of
buyer Switchers and others
Day care centers for the young non school going children of workers employed in the industry with
the help of Migros or other buyers/NGO
Even with the awareness of procuring correct raw material and efficiency in various processes of
production to reduce cost, social compliance, social commitments to meet the concern of most demanding
buyers, the Tirupur suppliers, like most of the manufacturers are not aware of their most important weakness
i.e. to be able to hook on to latest trends to create a range which can book orders easily or to dispose off the
merchandise exported which for some reason the consignee is not able to accept.
Now with the changing scenario, due 2005 factor some of the leading suppliers like Eastman and Geena
Garment and others are tying up with the importers, foreign based agents, and local agents etc to improve
their marketing net work.
Acute shortage of water and ban on commercial boring to draw water from earth has made the wet
process on to fabric/garment a very difficult task, especially in future. The World Bank project to bring
water to Tirupur by 2006 is in various stages of completion. The pipe line will be laid by Mahindra and
the water will be provided by L&T.
The available water has hardness and is not suitable for effective processing with brilliancy in
shades. Presently all the modern processors are using converted soft water from hard water where
the ppm is less than 10