Jardosh spoke at the 14Th Edition of Texcon was jointly organized by Confederation of Indian Industry and Ministry of Textiles, New Delhi. The theme of the conference was “Capitalizing the Emerging Opportunities to Create a Competitive Textiles & Apparel Sector”.
She stated that government would cover the whole value chain in the second PLI Scheme (PLI-2), so those excluded by the first scheme will also get the benefit.
Global market opportunities are huge and Indian textile industry must increase its capacity to access them, Darshana Jarodosh, Minister of State (MoS for Textiles), has declared. While she stated that government would provide every support possible, Darshana Jardosh said that the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI), will help in the building of large capacity.
India can be a global hub for geotextiles, technical textiles, and manmade fibres. It can also grow silk textile export. She underlined the government’s thrust to enable the industry to tap the opportunities during the changing geo-political scenario.
She shared that recently, the textile (fibre) and agriculture ministry partnered together to simplify the whole value chain from the fibre to the garment. Branding Indian textiles, she said, is another area of focus so that the global market recognizes its capabilities.
In the opening session of the conference Rachna Shah, Textiles Secretary The industry must diversify, and should focus on emerging markets. “Currently, 50 per cent of our exports are to the developed countries.” She said that the National Technical Textile Mission (NTTM) will focus on the emerging sector. Currently, Indian textiles are more concerned with cotton-based products, however MMF and technical textiles have huge potential.
According to the secretary, Indian industry must increase its production capacity in order to take advantage of this opportunity. Most global brands seek China Plus One as a sourcing source. She said that PM MITRA, PLI and other schemes would give a big boost to production. “The government is working at an advanced stage to finalise awardee states under PM MITRA scheme. The scheme has been planned to build textile park of at least 1,000 acres,” Shah told Fibre2Fashion On the sidelines
The inaugural session featured a consultation company Wazir Advisors Co-founder & Partner Prashant Agrawal said that India’s golden time is coming. India, in post-COVID times, is the only nation that can replace China as a supplier to global brands. For India to seize the chance, it will need to invest approximately $100 billion.
Gautam Nair is the Managing Director at Matrix Clothing, said that India’s signing of the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with the United Kingdom and the European Union will provide support to Indian exporters. The PLI program will provide the needed support for industry to increase its capacity.
During another session on ‘Global Geo-Political Shift: India’s Growth Opportunity, Shubhra, trade advisor of Ministry of Textiles The industry was advised to step out of their comfort zones to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities. It is important for the industry to step outside of its comfort zone and accept risk in order to benefit from new opportunities that are available.
Raja M. Shanmugham, Managing Director of Tiruppur-based company Warsaw International and President of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (TEA)According to him, the government should create Tiruppur-like clusters throughout the country. The government should also be focusing on the day to-to-day challenges faced by exporters, according to him. “They face challenges of higher cost of production, lower productivity and unavailability of mid-level skilled staff to increase capacity.”
Pallabh Benderjee is Joint Managing Director at Pearl Global Industries Ltd. It was pointed out that India has a longer gestation time than Bangladesh and Vietnam, which is important if someone plans on setting up a new unit.
During the session on ‘Diversification of Supply Chain: Scaling up MMF and Cotton’, Manmohan Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Grasim Industries Ltd, According to them, the growth of viscose fiber segment was slower despite it having similar properties as cotton. India can build large scale capacities in the sector. He also shared Grasim’s initiative in research and development.
Ajay Sardana, President & Head Strategy and Business Development – Polyester, Reliance Industries, said the government’s focus should be on providing a level playing field for all the segments of the textile sector. According to him, India is capable of producing polyester segments and it’s up to the government for them also.
Kulin Lalbhai, Chairman, CII National Committee on Textile & Apparel and Executive Director of Arvind Ltd, A special session was held to discuss the target of increasing textiles industry exports to exceed $40 billion and $100 billion annually by 2030. It is now up to the industry to devise a strategy and plan to reach the goal.
There was in-depth discussion between industry experts during the sessions on ‘Textile Recycling – Perspectives and Challenges’ and ‘FTAs – A key driving force for future investments’.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)