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New Delhi: The union government plans to help impart world-class training to Indian artisans, weavers and young professionals through tie-ups and exchange programmes between Indian textile research institutes such as the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and technical institutes in the UK, Australia and Finland, two people aware of the matter said.
With this, it hopes to add heft to Indian textile manufacturing to meet global demand and position India as a sourcing destination for textile products, a market currently dominated by China.
India’s textile industry is the second-largest employer after agriculture, providing direct employment to 45 million people and another 100 million in allied sectors. The market is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.59% and is expected to be worth $387.3 billion by 2028.
“The textiles sector is witnessing growth. Trade has increased month on month. This a good sign, but it’s not significant growth,” said one of the two people cited above, adding that a memorandum of understanding would be signed by NIFT and the three countries at the ongoing global textiles show BharatTex. Innovation and technology upgradation will drive the textile industry’s growth story, the person added.
“It’s a well-planned project to upscale textile exports. The agreement with technical institutions will facilitate training programmes that will help in the manufacturing of quality products and increase Indian textiles’ global footprint,” the second person said.
The plan will be implemented across all 18 NIFT institutes and eight textiles research institutions, including Synthetic & Art Silk Mills’ Research Association, Northern India Textile Research Association, South India Textile Research Association, and Man-Made Textile Research Association.
Queries sent to the textiles ministry and the director general of NIFT were not immediately answered.
The textiles ministry also hopes to attract ₹95,000 crore in investments that will create about 2.25 million new jobs in the next four to six years. The ministry is eyeing ₹25,000 crore in investments through the production-linked incentive scheme (PLI) and another ₹70,000 crore through the PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM-MITRA) parks scheme.
The PM MITRA parks scheme envisions plug-and-play infrastructure for textile players, created by the union government and states to increase investment, promote innovation, create job opportunities and make India a global hub for textile manufacturing and exports.
India is also pursuing free-trade agreements to step up its exports and boost domestic growth. The domestic apparel & textile industry contributes about 2.3% of the country’s GDP, 13% of industrial production, and 12% of exports.
India exports technical textiles, including medical apparel, worth $2.5 billion and plans to increase this to $10 billion in the next five years.
The country is among the top producers of cotton and jute, the world’s second-largest silk producer, and accounts for 95% of the world’s hand-woven fabrics.
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Published: 26 Feb 2024, 07:07 PM IST
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