Introduction
India’s textiles sector is one of the oldest industries in the Indian economy, dating back to several centuries.
The industry is extremely varied, with hand-spun and hand-woven textiles sectors at one end of the spectrum, while the capital-intensive sophisticated mills sector on the other end. The decentralised power looms/ hosiery and knitting sector forms the largest component in the textiles sector. The close linkage of textiles industry to agriculture (for raw materials such as cotton) and the ancient culture and traditions of the country in terms of textiles makes it unique in comparison to other industries in the country. India’s textiles industry has a capacity to produce wide variety of products suitable for different market segments, both within India and across the world.
Investment
The textiles sector has witnessed a spurt in investment during the last five years. The industry (including dyed and printed) attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth US$ 3.44 billion from April 2000 to March 2020.
Government Initiatives
Indian government has come up with a number of export promotion policies for the textiles sector. It has also allowed 100% FDI in the sector under the automatic route.
Initiatives taken by Government of India are:
- On September 2, 2020, the Union Cabinet approved signing an MOU between textile committee, India and M/s Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre, Japan, for improving quality and testing Indian textiles and clothing for the Japanese market. This India–Japan pact on cooperation in textiles will facilitate Indian exporters to meet the requirements of Japanese importers as per the latter’s technical regulations
- Under Union Budget 2020–21, a National Technical Textiles Mission is proposed for a period from 2020–21 to 2023–24 at an estimated outlay of Rs 1,480 crore (US$ 211.76 million).
- In 2020, New Textiles Policy 2020 is expected to be released by the Ministry of Textiles.
- CCEA approved mandatory packaging of foodgrains and sugar in jute material for the Jute Year 2019–20.
- In September 2019, textiles export witnessed a 6.2% increase post GST as compared to the period pre-GST.
- The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has revised rates for incentives under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for two subsectors of Textiles Industry – readymade garments and made-ups – from 2% to 4%.
- The Government announced a special package of US$ 31 billion to boost export, create one crore job opportunity and attract investment worth Rs 80,000 crore (US$ 11.93 billion) during 2018–2020. As of August 2018, it generated additional investments worth Rs 25,345 crore (US$ 3.78 billion) and exports worth Rs 57.28 billion (US$ 854.42 million).
- The Government of India has taken several measures including Amended Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS), estimated to create employment for 35 lakh people and enable investment worth Rs 95,000 crore (US$ 14.17 billion) by 2022.
- Integrated Wool Development Programme (IWDP) was approved by Government of India to provide support to the wool sector, starting from wool rearer to end consumer, with an aim to enhance quality and increase production during 2017–18 and 2019–20.
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), Government of India approved a new skill development scheme named ‘Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS)’ with an outlay of Rs 1,300 crore (US$ 202.9 million) from 2017–18 to 2019–20. As of August 2019, 16 states signed pacts with the Ministry of Textiles to partner with it for skilling about four lakh workers under the scheme.
Achievements
Following are the achievements of the Government in the past four years:
- As of 2019, 348 technical textiles products were developed according to Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
- I-ATUFS, a web-based claims monitoring and tracking mechanism was launched on April 21, 2016. 381 new block level clusters were sanctioned.
- Under the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP), 59 textile parks were sanctioned, out of which, 22 have been completed.
- Employment increased to 45 million in FY19 from 8.03 in FY15.
Road Ahead
The future for the Indian textiles industry looks promising, buoyed by strong domestic consumption as well as export demand. With consumerism and disposable income on the rise, the retail sector has experienced a rapid growth in the past decade with the entry of several international players like Marks & Spencer, Guess and Next into the Indian market.
High economic growth has resulted in higher disposable income. This has led to rise in demand for products creating a huge domestic market.
Note: Conversion rate used in April 2020, Rs 1 = US$ 0.013123
References: Ministry of Textiles, Indian Textile Journal, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Press Information Bureau
Note: ^ – Provisional
