Textile and Jute - Indian Chamber of Commerce

The Textile industry in India is one of the largest in the world with a large raw material base and manufacturing strength across the value chain.
India is the 2nd largest producer of MMF Fibre. India is the 6th largest exporter of Textiles & Apparel in the world.
India became the second-largest manufacturer of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits in the world.
India is the 6th largest producer of Technical Textiles with a 6% Global Share (12% CAGR), the largest producer of cotton & jute in the world.³⁰
India is:

- The second-largest producer of silk in the world

- Largest consumer and the second-largest producer of cotton with 6 Mn tons of cotton production every year which is about 23% of the world cotton

India is a global leader in jute production, accounting for about 70% of estimated world production.¹
The total number of looms installed in the jute industry was 48,322, as of 01 January 2018. The installed spindles in jute mills other than 100 % export oriented units were 7,48,612. The maximum installed capacity in jute mills other than 100% export-oriented is about 2.75 mn tonnes annually. ¹
The industry contributes to 7% of industrial output in value terms, 2% of India’s GDP and 12% of the country’s export earnings. ²
Four International Expos – Indian Handwoven and Home textiles Sourcing were participated by Handloom Export Promotion Council in different countries on virtual mode during March 2021 at Australia & New Zealand; USA & Canada; Japan and Spain, France & Italy.
Cotton production supports 5.8 Million farmers & 40-50 mn people in allied sectors. India is also the second-largest producer of silk in the world and 95% of the world’s hand-woven fabric comes from India.
As per the 4th All India Handloom Census 2019-20, there are 35.22 lakh handloom workers across the country.
The Textile industry in India is one of the largest sources of employment generation in the country. The sector engages 16.73 lakhs of people consisting of 10.28 % of the total employment share.

The close linkage of the textile industry to agriculture (for raw materials such as cotton) and the ancient culture and traditions of the country in terms of textiles make the Indian textiles sector unique in comparison to the industries of other countries. The Indian textile industry has the capacity to produce a wide variety of products suitable to different market segments, both within India and across the world.
The revolutionary changes in economic and trade laws that swept across the globe by the end of the last millennium and the liberalization of Indian economy have had their impact on the industrial activity in the country. Indian economy enters a very important phase with the New NDA Government taking charge after the 2019 marathon General Lok Sabha Elections. The last 5-year period has been a period of consolidation, policy disruptions and shaping up of a new India where many structural reforms happened in the Indian economy and also specifically in the Textile & Clothing (T&C) Industry. T&C Industry has also gone through a phase of consolidation where exports stagnated, aggressive State Policies directed investments, and domestic demand was disturbed due to demonetisation, banking restructuring and implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
India’s T&C Industry has witnessed many ups and downs during the past five years. India’s T&C exports have declined from US$ 38.60 billion in 2014 to US$ 37.12 billion in 2018 while imports have increased from US$ 5.85 billion to US$ 7.31 during the same period. India, which was the world’s second largest exporter of T&C products during 2014-17 after China, fell to 5th place in 2018 as Germany, Bangladesh and Vietnam stepped in (Source: ITC TradeMap).
Further, India’s exports of all the categories of T&C, except a few such as Fibre, Filament Yarn and Others have declined during the period 2014-15 to 2018-19 as shown in the Table below. Further the exports of Spun Yarn, Fabric, Apparel and Home Textiles have registered a negative growth (CAGR) during the same period. Though, the CAGR of Fibre, Filament Yarn and Others has increased, it has not contributed significantly to the overall export growth of T&C products. Moreover, the overall exports of T&C products have also declined by 0.33% CAGR during the same period.

Some of the major investments in the Indian textiles industry are as follows:
In May 2018, textiles sector recorded investments worth Rs 27,000 crore (US$ 4.19 billion) since June 2017.
The Government of India announced a Special Package to boost exports by US$ 31 billion, create one crore job opportunities and attract investments worth Rs 800.00 billion (US$ 11.93 billion) during 2018-2020. As of August 2018, it generated additional investments worth Rs 253.45 billion (US$ 3.78 billion) and exports worth Rs 57.28 billion (US$ 854.42 million).

Government Initiatives:
The Indian government has come up with a number of export promotion policies for the textiles sector. It has also allowed 100 per cent FDI in the Indian textiles sector under the automatic route.

Initiatives taken by Government of India are:
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 per cent to 4 per cent.
As of August 2018, the Government of India has increased the basic custom duty to 20 per cent from 10 per cent on 501 textile products, to boost Make in India and indigenous production.
The Government of India announced a Special Package to boost exports by US$ 31 billion, create one crore job opportunity and attract investments 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), scheme is estimated to create employment for 35 lakh people and enable investments worth Rs 95,000 crore (US$ 14.17 billion) by 2022.
Integrated Wool Development Programme (IWDP) approved by Government of India to provide support to the wool sector starting from wool rearer to end consumer which aims to enhance the quality and increase the production during 2017-18 and 2019-20.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), Government of India has 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.

Achievements:
Following are the achievements of the government in the past four years:
I-ATUFS, a web-based claims monitoring and tracking mechanism was launched on April 21, 2016.
381 new block level clusters were sanctioned.
20 new textile parks were sanctioned
Employment increased to 8.62 million in FY18 from 8.03 in FY15.

Road Ahead:
The future for the Indian textile industry looks promising, buoyed by both 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.