Textile industry for development of infrastructure at ports

The Indian Cotton Mills' Federation (ICMF) has urged the Union government to develop infrastructure to meet the increasing demand, especially for the scenario when the World Trade Organisation (WTO)-mandated dismantling of trade barriers comes into effect from January 2005.

The federation has also asked associations and individual organisations to unite to develop textile parks across the country.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Vinod K Ladia, chairman of The Indian Cotton Mills' Federation, said, "It is important for India to cash in on the dismantling of trade barriers and quota restrictions which will be effective from next month. For this, we must improve our infrastructure and increase production capabilities."

According to him, ICMF has approached the central government to look into the aspect of infrastructure, especially at ports where there is a lot of congestion. The federation has also urged the government to encourage textile parks, where there would be a combined and cluster approach.

Ladia said that the government must look at changing the labour laws to suit a contract working methodology. "The federation has also sought the trade agreements signed with other countries to improve bilateral trade. One more important aspect that the government must look into is to promote the Indian textile industry," he said.

The federation, he said, expects more mergers and acquisitions in the days to come to meet the increase in demand. The ICMF has also urged the federations and associations to have common facilities where information and training can be provided.

"Individual organisations must look at increasing the production capabilities and offer competitive pricing. They must also look at improving the quality and create new designs to penetrate newer markets," Ladia said.

He said that the companies must develop individual branding and retailing of garments as it would be a potential area to improve business.

According to Vijay Venkataswamy, chairman of the Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA), the turnover of the textile industry in the country is expected to go up from the present $36 billion to $85 billion by 2010.

"Out of the $36 billion, $12 billion was generated from the export market t. By 2010, textile exports are expected to contribute $40 billion and the rest from domestic consumption," he said. He said that for achieving these projected growth rates, the industry must see an annual growth of around 12 per cent.