"What made the Union textile ministry open the sector to all is not very clear to us," said the president of the West Bengal Garment Manufacturers & Dealers Association, Mr RC Tewari.

Mr Tewari observed that the garments industry, although wholly in the small-scale sector, earned the country $5 billion in foreign exchange - out of the total textiles sector earning of $11 billion - and reports an annual growth rate of 11 per cent. This has been achieved without proper government support and patronage, he stated.

"After the dereservation," Mr Tewari said, "thousands of small and tiny units, employing about 10-15 persons each, will perish in the face of fierce competition from big investors, who will employ the latest technology to keep production costs low." He added that there were 100,000 tiny and small units, which employ around 12 lakh workers who stand to lose their jobs.

On another front, the industry will be swamped by world-famous brands brought in by multinationals, Mr Tewari pointed out. He felt that the MNC threat is bigger than the one posed by the entry of big Indian houses. The new textile policy allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment with no export obligation, he said.

Recently, in an interview to a business daily, Union textile minister Kashiram Rana had said that the ministry plans to set up a number of apparel parks in various parts of the country. His list of locations included Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab.

But West Bengal, where the garments industry was born, does not figure in the minister's list. The Union government will spend around Rs 1000 crore on infrastructure and other purposes for the parks. Mr Tewari said there is another Union fund called the textile appraisal fund that is meant for building market complexes. But garment makers have not been able to take advantage of this because of the West Bengal government's procrastination in alloting land.

Mr Tewari said he met the new chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, at a felicitation programme organised by the chambers of commerce on November 8. He said he reminded the chief minister that the government is yet to allot land for a garments marketing complex and a manufacturing complex. Mr Bhattacharya promised a speedy decision, according to Mr Tewari.West Bengal, accounts for over 40 per cent of the country's total garments production. In childrens garments, the state's share is around 60 per cent.