Carpet exports grow over 6 per cent in July.

NEW DELHI: India's carpet exports grew by over six per cent to $53 million in July against a year ago period, on demand from new markets like Russia and Dubai.

In July 2009, the carpet exports stood at $49 million, according to Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC).

To reduce their dependence on traditional markets like the US and Europe, the exporters are now exploring new markets.

"We are diversifying into emerging markets like Dubai, Brazil, Russia and Australia to reduce dependence on western markets", CEPC Chairman OP Garg said.

He added, the demand from African countries is also growing.

The council expects the carpet exports to grow by 25 per cent to $650 million in 2010-11 compared to the last fiscal.

"From the past three months we have been able to maintain a growth rate of 25 per cent. We are sure that the trend will continue", Garg said.

Among categories, which have registered maximum growth are handmade woollen tufted carpets, which grew by 8.33 per cent followed by handmade woollen carpets 7.11 per cent and synthetic carpets 1.16 per cent.

The US and EU together account for nearly 70 per cent of the country's total carpet exports.

Carpet exports, which started declining since October 2008, had managed to turn positive in November 2009, registering a growth of 18 per cent. The sector employs 2.5 million people.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com