India: Textile and clothing brands gunning for non-resident Indians

Partly because of sluggish growth at home and partly because of growing ambitions, leading Indian brands of clothing and textiles have started moving aggressively to tap the demand from non-resident Indians in other parts of the world. For the time being, everybody seems to be focussed on the Middle East and the reason is that the Middle East region has a large number of temporary Indian expatriates who aren't looking at permanent migration.

Madura Garments and Indigo Nation have already opened five exclusive stores each in the U.A.E. and Raymond has added its Park and Parx brands of clothing to its textiles retail outlets. Many smaller clothing and textile firms have started selling their products through multi-brand retail outlets also.

Though the volumes aren't terribly impressive at the moment, most concede that the potential is significant. Manufacturers and brands are generally taking care to ensure that their products are superior to those offered in the domestic markets and non-resident Indians do not seem to be averse to buying Indian brands while working abroad.