The garment industry comprises manufacturers of ready-made garments for both the domestic and export markets. The industry is extremely fragmented, with an estimated 27,000 domestic manufacturers, 48,000 fabricators (job contractors) and around 1000 manufacturer-exporters. Ownership of the firms in the apparel industry, are by and large either proprietorship / partnership. In the manufacturing base, fabricators dominate the scene with a share of 72% of the estimated manufacturing capacity of 1.5 million machines.

Small-scale fabricators dominate garment manufacturing. Most garment manufacturing units fare reasonably well on the technology count. The bulk of apparel is produced by about 77,000 small-scale units classified as domestic manufacturers, manufacturer exporters, and fabricators (subcontractors). The fragmented structure of the industry provides the advantage of a large pool of skilled workers in different areas of textile manufacturing, and also gives scope for entry of organized integrated textile manufacturers. Small scale units in different sectors can also be leveraged as a supply base for sourcing materials at low cost. Apart from these advantages, the industry has also been experiencing consistent growth across different sectors, making it one of the key potential sectors in India.

Tamil Nadu is one of the world's leading cotton textile centres.The state contributes more than 25% to the country's export of cotton yarn and fabrics. Fifty-six per cent of India's total knitwear exports come from Tirupur.

Tirupur is an important trade centre of the country which is famous for its knitted garment's wear. Tirupur textile cluster has units in spinning, knitting, wet processing, printing, garment manufacturing and export. In addition, there are ancillary units supplying buttons, laces, embroidery, cones and yarn processing.

Tirupur has significant presence at the lower end of the international hosiery and knitwear market. Most entrepreneurs cater to the lower end of the hosiery market on contract-manufacturing basis. The cluster accounts for 90% of the cotton knitwear exports. With 3,00,00 employees, it has recorded total export of US $ 900 million approximately.