MUMBAI/LONDON: Fast-fashion giant Shein and India's Reliance Retail are preparing to transform India into a significant global supply base for low-cost apparel, with plans to start selling India-made Shein clothes abroad within the next six to 12 months, two sources told Reuters.

The move comes as Shein, originally founded in China and now based in Singapore, seeks to reduce dependence on Chinese manufacturing amid rising tariffs and trade tensions with the U.S. The company has been in talks with Reliance on this plan since before new tariffs on Chinese imports were imposed, the sources said.

As part of this effort, Reliance aims to grow Shein's Indian supplier base from the current 150 to 1,000 within a year. In a statement to Reuters, Shein maintained that its partnership with Reliance is currently limited to licensing its brand for domestic use in India. Reliance did not respond to requests for comment.

Shein returned to India earlier this year after its app was banned in 2020 due to border tensions between India and China via a licensing deal with Reliance. The deal led to the launch of SheinIndia.in, which features clothes produced in Indian factories—unlike Shein's main sites, which predominantly source goods from China.

Reliance, helmed by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, has already contracted 150 garment manufacturers and is in discussions with 400 more. The goal is to start listing India-made apparel on Shein's U.S. and U.K. websites, with the timing depending on supplier ramp-up, one source said.

India's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, had earlier stated in parliament that the Shein-Reliance partnership is designed to create an Indian supplier network that caters both to the domestic and global markets.

Known for its US$5 dresses and $10 jeans, Shein operates on a high-speed, on-demand manufacturing model. Reliance is looking to replicate that model in India by working with suppliers to produce as few as 100 pieces per design initially and scale up production based on demand.

So far, the India app has been downloaded 2.7 million times and is growing rapidly, according to Sensor Tower. While the product range is still modest — 12,000 designs in four months versus 600,000 on Shein's U.S. site — offerings are expected to scale up quickly.

Reliance is also evaluating suppliers' ability to reproduce Shein's global bestsellers at competitive prices. In parallel, the company plans to support suppliers in sourcing synthetic fabrics, importing necessary machinery, and building capacity to meet export quality.

Reliance executives have recently traveled to China to study Shein's supply chain, data-driven design process, and digital marketing techniques. "The scale and speed are truly incredible," said Manish Aziz, assistant VP of Shein India at Reliance, in a LinkedIn post.

This is one of several brand partnerships Reliance Retail manages — others include Brooks Brothers and Marks & Spencer — as it continues to compete with Amazon, Flipkart, and Tata's Zudio in the race for retail dominance.