With cotton still figuring in the list of commodities that are produced using practices such as child labour, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has entered into an understanding with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to create awareness, share technical know-how and knowledge about better labour standards. These standards, which are part of ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights to Work (FPRW), will be tried on a pilot basis in major cotton-growing districts of Madhya Pradesh for one year starting in 2024.
The proposed trade deal with the 27-nation European Union (EU) is expected to provide zero-duty access to the $95 billion European market for Indian textile and apparel manufacturers. Currently, India's share of the European market is just 6 per cent, or $5.5 billion.
Acknowledging that the rupee appreciation has created some problems for exporters, the government on Tuesday assured the textile industry of addressing all its legitimate concerns to generate more employment. "I am aware that the strengthening of the rupee has created some strains for our exporters," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry.
Having already witnessed a job cut of around seven lakhs so far in the year, the textile industry may see a further reduction in manpower by five lakhs, given in a decline in business by 1.5 per cent.
Backed by the 'China Plus One' sentiment globally, India's textile exports is expected to grow by 81 per cent to $65 billion by 2026 from the pre-Covid level of around $36 billion in 2019, said a report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and global consulting firm Kearney. This jump is likely to generate 7.5-10 million new jobs. A large chunk of this targeted increase, or around $16 billion may come from the China Plus One sentiment due to India's relatively large strategic depth compared with Vietnam or Bangladesh, the report said.
Businesses are testing new markets, tapping into domestic demand, and pushing the government for relief.
The textile and apparel sector is India's second-largest employment provider, after agriculture, and it is now caught in a wave of uncertainty following the Donald Trump administration's tariff policy.
In order to modernise the Indian textile industry, the finance minister has increased the allocation to the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) by 188 per cent to Rs 3,140 crore (Rs 31.40 billion) for 2009-10 as against Rs 1,090 crore (Rs 10.90 billion) for the corresponding period last year.
Amit Goyal, president, Confederation of Indian Apparel Exporters, plans to reduce the number of companies his group Sarju International
From labelling India the 'Tariff King' to slapping sweeping import duties, US President Donald Trump has steadily hardened his trade stance on India. These announcements are being seen as a pressure tactic to get New Delhi to agree to demands made by the US in the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
This comes in the background of claims by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, an industry body, that about 700,000 jobs have been cut in the last six months. The industry lobby group has also forecast a further loss of half a million jobs in the next five months.
Textile stocks have exhibited a mixed performance so far this calendar year (CY23), amidst higher domestic cotton prices and tepid global demand. Shares of Page Industries, Dollar Industries, Lux Industries, and VIP Clothing have declined up to 13 per cent so far in CY23, as against a 9 per cent jump in the S&P BSE Sensex. On the contrary, shares of Arvind, Welspun India, Raymond, and Gokaldas Exports have gained up to 51 per cent, during the same period.
Since September last year, when everyone realised that the global economic meltdown could not be wished away, industry groups have been dishing out data on job losses. Among these is the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, which said a million jobs had been lost in the last financial year. Most textile companies expect the situation to improve by October this year.
India's Textiles Minister Shankersinh Vaghela Thursday stressed the need for Asian countries to come together to enhance competitiveness and harness their advantages to withstand global competition.
A decline in exports, which is a distinct possibility at the moment, would affect employment in the sector and even lead to a loss of existing jobs.
The country's textile industry is concentrated in a few pockets of Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west and Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the south.
Despite the recent Western criticism on Bangladesh's labour standards, India has a long way to go before it overtakes the neighbour in global exports.
Backed by the China-plus-one policy, India's textile and apparel exports have seen a 53 per cent growth during the April-November period of the current fiscal year at around $26 billion. This compares to the figure of $17 billion during the same period in FY21. According to Wazir Textile Index, all major companies including Welspun, Vardhman, Trident, KPR Mills, Indo Count, RSWM, Filatex, Nahar Spg and Indorama have posted higher sales during the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the pre-pandemic year.
Union minister for textiles Dayanidhi Maran said, "The making of the National Fibre Policy is in its final stages and will be ready by March end." He spoke at a seminar today, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry on textiles. He declined to divulge details.
According to industry estimates, textiles exports have declined by 6.8 per cent during the April-May period of 2007-08, while cotton yarn has seen a negative growth of 9.9 per cent. India's textile exports amounted to $19 billion last year and the target for this fiscal was set at $25 billion.
It argued that the duty reduction will not lead to revenue loss for the government.
Vidarbha, the land of farmers' suicides, may soon witness changes in cultivation methods.
Indian production this season (Oct 2006-Sept 2007) is estimated at 280 lakh bales of 170 kg (against 245 lakh bales last season) and for the next season, it has been projected at a minimum 300 lakh bales.
'The package will help in realising the true potential of employment generation in the textile and apparel sector.'
Andhra Pradesh ranked No.1 with regard to the total number of investments made in textile projects this year, a study conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry-Southern region said.
Here stood a man who embodied the legacy of whatever Brand Tata stood for, embellished it, and departed into the long night, leaving the brand legacy for others to further enrich, notes R Gopalakrishnan.
Despite the onset of wedding season, the situation in apparel retail market remained unchanged and saw sharp decline in sales
Confederation of Indian Industry has suggested levying of basic excise duty at uniform rate of eight per cent across the value chain in textiles stating "it will make the sector competitive in the global market."
Indian firms feared they would lose business if US ratified the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement with 11 other countries.
A few days back, Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India, presented a grim scenario of the crop's prospects in the 2024-25 season that starts in October. Addressing the association's annual general meeting, Ganatra said the area under the crop could go down by at least 10 per cent in the coming season due to falling yields and realisation, leading to farmers losing interest. The fear of a decline in acreage comes against the backdrop of India's cotton production probably falling to its lowest in a decade, according to estimates.
Dr Vijay Kelkar, adviser to the finance minister, will meet industry representatives on Monday in Mumbai to discuss his indirect tax proposals as well as pre-Budget issues.
Particularly hit has been the apparel sector, where the time taken by the industry to adjust to the Goods and Services Tax regime, downward revision of export incentives, and a credit squeeze faced by small and medium scale enterprises, has pushed production downwards.
Even as the industrial cycle has ground to a halt during the 21-day lockdown, the industry has been hit hard by foreign orders from major clients in the US and Europe being cancelled. Also, a sudden lack of labour has crippled the sector because of a mass exodus of workers from industrial units to the hinterland.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
Federation of Indian Export Organisations president A Sakthivel said the quotations from the Chinese suppliers do not reflect the real value of the dollar, hurting the Indian interests.
India Inc had cheered Donald Trump's decision to scrap TPP, but now there is a growing sense that it won't really lead to positive growth in trade with the US. Subhayan Chakraborty reports.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani might have made news for purchasing the most expensive beach-side villa in Dubai recently, but he is not the only Indian eyeing the city for investment. Since Dubai allowed foreign investors full ownership in specific sectors in June 2021, a horde of Indian companies have moved or expanded into the desert city. The list even includes a kindergarten, an elementary and middle school, and a hotel that has sought 100 per cent ownership.
Work on a dozen decisions to start by next week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met business leaders to hear their grievances on issues ranging from high capital cost to ease of doing business to certainty on taxation matters, as he interacted for the first time with the Indian industry chambers since taking charge over a year ago.
'Indian entrepreneurs became traders for Chinese goods rather than producers of goods.'
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