Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Kearney jointly released a special report titled Creating a competitive advantage for India in the global textile and apparel industry, at the 13th edition of Texcon 2021 - International Conference on Textiles & Apparel held on 21 October 2021.
This report captures and identifies the key areas of opportunity and underline the imperatives required to achieve the requisite targets. The report covers the entire textile value chain and points out specific imperatives on which both the Government and the industry must undertake targeted actions to enhance India’s global competitiveness.
The report highlights how Indian textile industry can stage a turnaround to regain its global leadership position in exports. Textile products hold a key position in the global value chain, with India being the world’s fifth-largest exporter for apparel, home, and technical products.
“The Indian textile industry is one of the largest manufacturing sectors by employment. To realise its full potential in the global market, strengthening of the textile industry value chain and broader market access is a must said Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) while complimenting the Ministry of Textiles for its efforts to boost the Indian Textiles and Apparel Industry.
COVID-19 has triggered the redistribution of global trade shares and a recalibration of sourcing patterns (“China plus one” sourcing), providing a golden opportunity for Indian textiles to stage a turnaround and regain a leadership position as a top exporting economy. We believe India’s textile industry should target 8 to 9 percent CAGR during 2019–2026, driven by domestic demand growth and significant growth in annual exports says Mr Neelesh Hundekari, Partner and India Head for Textiles, Apparel and Lifestyle Retail at Kearney.
The report highlighted that achieving the $65 billion exports target up from $36 billion in 2019 will require India to carefully strategize actions in the following five key areas:
Apparel: Target a $16 billion increase by riding the China Plus One sentiment. India is suitably positioned on this, thanks to its relatively large strategic depth compared with Vietnam or Bangladesh.
Fabrics: Target a $4 billion jump by positioning India as a regional fabric hub, starting with cotton wovens and then extending to other sub-categories.
Home textiles: Target a $4 billion increase by building on existing advantages to expand the global customer base.
Man-made fiber and yarn: Target a $2.5 billion to $3 billion jump with a focus on gaining share in MMF (man made fiber) products
Technical textiles: Target a $2 billion jump by building capabilities in select key sub-segments on the back of potential domestic demand growth.
The report suggested that the Government should focus on putting in place, key enablers that can attract investments and optimize operations like improved market access, cost competitiveness and creation of an enabling business environment.
The report also underscored the need for industry players to adapt global best practices in terms of manufacturing competitiveness, enhancement of service levels, capabilities in design, innovation and need for more investments in sustainability and traceability.
Government and industry needs to act as a combined force to build Brand India in the Textiles and Apparel sector.
23 October 2021