Ludhiana June 9: India’s largest hosiery industry at Ludhiana is witnessing a boom as it has created a place for itself in domestic as well as foreign market.

Hosiery shops here popularly called India's Manchester could not have asked for more. Owners of woolen garment factories including Priknit, Koutons and Knitware Club are enjoying huge profits.

Ludhiana accounts for nearly 90 per cent of the country's woolen hosiery industry. The increasing profit in this sector is luring more and more companies to make a debut in this field.

"It is almost 7000 to 10,000 crore rupees industry in the knitwear section. Markets trend today is towards retail only. So, every industry, which is going into retail, is booming," said Vijay Ghai, Managing Director, Priknit.

The hosiery goods of Punjab are in great demand not only across the nation, but also worldwide. This industry is a major foreign exchange earner for India and includes America and Russia among its clientele.

According to trade experts, the industry's growing popularity in the domestic market is primarily due to the growing spending power of the people in India.

"Today, if we talk of organised apparel markets, which is to the tune of 22, 000 crores and which is growing at the rate of three per cent per annum and will continue for the next five to seven years, that means there are lot of opportunities available in India itself especially Punjab who are self sufficient," said Balwinder Singh Ahluwalia, President, Koutons.

Ludhiana's hosiery industry is likely to surpass that of China in a race for global expansion with a large number of French buyer's preferring Indian products to Chinese.

Ludhiana plays a dominant role in Indian economy as it contributes substantially to exports. (ANI)