India's FY09 textile exports seen flat - official

By Abhishek Shanker & Aniruddha Basu

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's textile exports for the year ending March 2009 is expected to be flat compared with the previous year, as a falling rupee offset losses in the first six months, a government official said on Thursday.

The rupee fell about 4 percent since the beginning of 2009, bringing some cheer to exporters battling a global downturn.

"We may see a almost flat (growth) ..around $22-23 billion...exports will be more or less in line with what we had last year," J.N. Singh, joint secretary, ministry of textiles, told Reuters in a telephonic interview.

As per government data, India's total textile exports for the fiscal year ended March 2008 stood at $22 billion.

"There has been a 3 percent overall decline in the US textiles and apparel industry," Singh said.

Production of yarn and fabric, key indicators for the health of the textile sector, has fallen between April to December 2008, due to slowing demand.

Yarn output in April-Dec has fallen about 2.3 percent to 2,930 million kilograms, while fabric production fell about 1.4 percent to 40,478 square meters in the same period, Singh said.

"Certainly we are not in a very happy situation," Singh said.