Two of India's most influential apparel exporters have won seats on the Board of Trade, the country's apex trade advisory body. A notification from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, confirmed the appointment of K.M. Subramanian, President of the Tiruppur Exporters' Association (TEA) and Chairman of K.M. Knitwear Private Limited, alongside Naren Goenka, Owner of Texport Industries and Chairman of Bharat Tex.

The appointments place garment-sector voices directly inside a 40-member body that advises the Central Government on trade development and export promotion — a channel that shapes the policy environment for every brand sourcing from India.

Who are the new members?

Subramanian carries the weight of Tiruppur's knitwear cluster. TEA, the apex body for cotton knitwear exporters in the Tamil Nadu hub, represents more than 1,300 manufacturing and exporting units. Those units drive roughly 90% of India's cotton knitwear exports. K.M. Knitwear itself is a fully vertically integrated apparel manufacturer and garment exporter based in Tirupur.

Goenka brings woven and knitted-garment scale. Texport Industries, one of India's leading apparel manufacturers and exporters, produces 1.5 to 2 million garments per month for global brands in the US and Europe, covering men's, women's and children's apparel. Goenka is also a former chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), India's official body of garment exporters.

What does the appointment change?

For sourcing teams, the move signals stronger producer representation in national trade policy deliberations. Dr. A. Sakthivel, Chairman of the AEPC and Honorary Chairman of TEA, said the induction of K.M. Subramanian means "the voice of the Tirupur knitwear export sector is expected to gain even stronger representation in national trade policy deliberations and decision-making processes."

The two apparel figures join heavyweight appointees from outside the sector, including:

• CS Setty, Chairman, State Bank of India
• Virat Bhatia, Managing Director, Apple India
• Anish Shah, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra
• Shailesh Chandra, President of SIAM and MD & CEO, Tata Motors

Why it matters for supply chains

The Board of Trade's remit — advising on trade development and export promotion — covers the levers that determine landed cost and lead time for India-bound programs: duty structures, export incentives and procedural friction. With Tiruppur's knitwear leadership and a high-volume exporter of 1.5–2 million monthly units now at the table, garment exporters gain a direct line into decisions that have previously filtered through broader industry channels.

Both appointments are confirmed by government notification, not merely announced intentions. The test now is whether the knitwear cluster's priorities — and the capacity behind them — translate into concrete policy outcomes for buyers and suppliers in the coming trade cycles.