AHMEDABAD: At the age of 28, Jaspal Singh, a technocrat from Ludhiana, left India for an opportunity that offered him more than a grand designation and a jump in salary. He took a calculated risk and moved to Bangladesh, while his peers were charting career plans in the US and Europe.
Eight years on, Singh is richer for the experience. Bangladesh is an emerging textile giant that has pipped India on the exports front. Cheaper labour, government support for the textile sector and strong FDI inflows have made the neighbouring country an attractive destination.
Singh, who works as quality assurance manager for a German fashion and lifestyle brand in Bangladesh says, “I am not done (with Bangladesh) yet.”
He liaises with 16 Bangladeshi textile manufacturers who supply to the global retailer from Chittagong and takes home a handsome salary for his expertise. “When I moved here, my salary jumped by 70%. I continue to gain on the monetary front,” he says.
Like Singh, a host of professionals in their late 20s are looking precisely at opportunities in neighbouring countries, which offer them bigger roles and huge salaries.
As exports from Asia grow, many do not mind leaving India for Bangladesh and emerging textile locations like Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh’s exports, for instance, were neck-to-neck with India’s at $10.9 billion in 2008. In 2009, though, Bangladesh beat India to it with well over $11 billion exports; India, on the other hand, has seen exports dipping by 7% last year. Vietnam and Sri Lanka have notched up $7 billion in exports.
Stagnation in terms of professional growth in the Indian textile industry and good salaries by competing players in foreign locations are primary reasons for more executives migrating to neighbouring countries, says president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association Abdul Hai Sarker. “We have become aggressive in recent years with our growth plans and hence, are borrowing talent from India,” he told ET.
“Textile personnel are being lured to emerging textile hubs by salary offers that are 50-100 % more than those being offered in India,” adds Shobit Tyagi, HR head (denim & corporate) at Arvind, the world’s largest denim manufacturer. Pay packages are indeed lucrative — Rs 18 lakh per month against a package of Rs 4.5-5 lakh for mid-level management in India and Rs 80 lakh-Rs 1 crore against Rs 25-35 lakh for senior positions.
The proportion of Indian executives in Bangladesh’s textile companies has grown by 15-20 %, says textile expert PR Roy. Executives who have been part of the migration of talent explain why. ”I could not have expected this exponential growth in my career graph had I remained in India,” says Ajay Roy, who, armed with two decades of experience in the Indian textile industry, quit Welspun India to take up a more challenging assignment for Bangladeshbased KDS Textile Mills, a subsidiary of $500 million KDS Group.
From GM (process and systems) in Welspun, he saw himself overseeing operations at Chittagong for the company that produces and supplies fabric to KDS Garment, which caters to the high-end market of knitted garments in the EU and US markets, including retailers like Walmart and Target. “Engineers and marketing personnel are more in demand, especially from the textile and garment units located in these countries,” says Mr Tyagi. “Indian textile technocrats have acquired the skills of managing operations with dexterity and are technically superior compared to their counterparts in South East Asia,” adds Mr Roy.
He adds that with Bangladesh realising its potential as a strong apparel player in the past five to eight years, it has begun to set its house in order. “Companies there are employing Indians to manage operations including HR, process and quality control as per global standards, which are almost non-existent there,” he says.
THE GOLDEN THREAD
EXPORT STORY
Bangladesh’s apparel exports stand at over $11 billion India notched up $10 billion Vietnam & Sri Lanka’s exports are at $7 billion
EARNING A PACKET
Pay packages are typically at Rs 18 lakh per month for middle management in Bangladesh In India, the figure is at Rs 4.5-5 lakh Senior professionals can earn up to Rs 1 crore in the neighbouring country against Rs 25-35 lakh here
WHAT INDIANS OFFER
Indian textile technocrats are technically superior compared to their counterparts in South East Asia Indians manage operations ranging from HR and process to quality control as per global standards