Journal of Economics, Management and Trade

The apparel industry is a labour-intensive, globally significant sector that supports economic growth and large-scale employment, particularly in emerging economies such as India. Against this backdrop, the present study examines the growth trajectory, development potential, and manager-reported constraints of the apparel industry in Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh, India, between 2000 and 2024. A descriptive mixed-methods design was adopted, combining secondary data from government reports and academic literature with primary data collected through a pre-tested, self-structured questionnaire (Cronbach's α = 0.7923) administered to 50 managers of apparel manufacturing units in Bilaspur. Time-series data show that the number of apparel units in the district expanded from 459 in 2000 to 3,541 in 2024, with the highest period-on-period growth (147.39%) recorded in 2010. Parallel growth was observed in capital investment, which rose from ₹110.16 lakhs in 2000 to ₹1,816.73 lakhs in 2024, and in employment, which expanded from 895 workers in 2000 to 8,286 in 2024. Manager perceptions indicate that the following problems significantly (p ≤ 0.05) constrain the growth of the sector: lack of finance for operations (t = 4.22), inadequate raw-material quality and availability (t = 3.79), low productivity (t = 2.16), skill shortages (t = 2.54), weak infrastructure (t = 2.28), the rapid turnover of fashion preferences (t = 2.19), the absence of sector-specific government policies (t = 2.36), and environmental impacts of production (t = 2.05). The findings establish that the apparel industry of Bilaspur holds substantial potential for economic development, employment generation, socio-economic upliftment, infrastructure growth, and the deepening of local markets, but realising this potential requires targeted policy and institutional responses to the documented constraints.