Textile Ministry accelerates industry growth momentum

According to Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani, there is huge potential for India to increase the number of large-scale textile companies even as the government sought ways to help the MSMEs

At the Symposium on Emerging Opportunities for Indian Textiles and Crafts held in New Delhi,

Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani said that time has come to focus on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). She further stated that Ministry of Textiles will get in touch with small-scale manufactures that are meeting exports compliances and meeting delivery schedules to support them with finance, legislation, certification, quality control programmes, and research and development to make them leaders in their respective sphere.

She said there is a need to diversify our established opportunities instead of leaving the space for one Export Promotion Council (EPC) or one segment. The minister stressed on augmenting domestic capabilities. She further said that the industry should resolve to ensure that India is “not a nation of job workers but a leader in the textiles sector”. “The ministry has always walked the extra mile for every issue highlighted by the industry,” she added. Observing that India has been satisfied with just 10 big textiles companies for long, the minister said that the time has come now for 100 new companies to spring up.

She also appealed to the textiles industry to fulfill the intention behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on Anti-Dumping Duty on PTA and the National Mission on Technical Textiles. The minister also asked the industry to meet the requirements of Jal Jivan Mission and farmers, apart from focusing on exports. In his key note address, Ravi Capoor, Secretary (Textiles), Government of India said that the global economy is passing through a critical juncture and India should step into and seize the big opportunity. Referring to the government’s decision on the manmade fibre (MMF) sector, he said it is a bold decision that opens up a huge opportunity.

He said that the industry should enhance its capacity and occupy the space vacated by China. It has been reported that China has vacated USD 20 billion dollar apparel space in the last three years and most of this was in the MMF sector. Capoor also said that technical textile is one of the high growth potential areas where expertise needs to be developed. The National Mission on Technical Textile will help provide the requisite support to the manufacturing sector to make it globally competitive. The symposium was attended by senior officers of the ministries of commerce and Industry and textiles as well as representatives of EPCs, buying offices and buying agents.