Pocketing even 1% market share from China means India gets a $10-billion opportunity in textiles

The textiles industry has been struggling to stay afloat in the midst of a raging pandemic that caused acute labour shortages and a surge in cotton prices. If these weren't enough, smaller nations such as Vietnam and Bangladesh are now overtaking India in this segment. Though there has been a 41% increase in textile exports from April-December 2021 against last year, a lot remains to be done to help the sector be more competitive and on a par with global challengers.

A report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and global management consulting firm Kearney released in October last year had stated that India’s textile industry should aim for $65 billion in exports in the next five years, especially with the “China Plus One” sentiments lending India a favourable position — as global companies look at sourcing and manufacturing destinations outside the “factory of the world”, China. Affirming such views, KK Lalpuria, Executive Director & CEO, Indo Count Industries, says a clear opportunity exists for India as textile brands and retailers are trying to de-risk their supply chain by looking at alternative hubs. “China’s cost competitiveness is waning. Their market share is still 30%-36% and even a 1% market share shift will imply a $10-billion market, because the global textiles trade is $1 trillion. So that is the kind of scale that India is looking at,” he says.

India’s domestic textile and apparel production is worth $140 billion, including $40 billion of textiles and apparel export, according to the Press Information Bureau. The government has set an export target of $100 billion over the next five years, from $34 billion (2019-20), according to the commerce ministry. Experts have pointed out that India, being a leading textile player, has the opportunity to massively scale up its presence in this segment.

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