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With a revival in the US economy, the Indian textile industry has seen resurgence in apparel demand through the last three months. Fresh orders have been recorded, both for immediate, as well as future deliveries. Apart from the US, apparel exporters have also recorded more orders from Europe. The US and Europe account for most of India’s apparel exports.
In the last few years, the Indian textile industry has seen a crisis of sorts, with the emergence of new competitors Bangladesh and Vietnam. However, of late, the slow growth in Bangladesh's economy has opened a window of opportunity for the Indian textile industry.
For this financial year, Textile Minister K S Rao has set a textiles an export target of $50 billion, against $32 billion in 2012-13. “The industry intends to explore potential in new markets such as Japan, Latin America and Australia; and strengthen its presence in traditional markets, including the US and the European Union,” he said. In the first two months of this financial year, exports stood at to $2.3 billion, against $2 billion in the year-ago period. “Last year, exports fell due to the poor global economic sentiment. This year, however, textile exports have started picking up. After witnessing a lull last financial year, apparel exports have also improved,” Rao said. He added demand had improved in the domestic market, too. He hoped the trend would continue.
For textile demand to rise, it is vital the situation in the ailing handloom sector improves. For this sector, the minister assured financial assistance, including loan restructuring and interest rate subvention. He said he would soon meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram and seek financial assistance of Rs 3,400 crore for the handloom sector. “Statistics on people depending on handloom have decreased over a period of time, due to worsening of their lifestyles…To upgrade the lifestyles of workers who depend on the ailing handloom sector, we will soon meet the finance minister for financial assistance,” he said.
Rao also proposed imparting skills required in the textiles sector to people below the poverty line, as this segment was the biggest employer, after agriculture. The industry is in need of skilled workers, as this would decrease input costs. The textiles industry accounts for 80 million workers, directly and indirectly. “Under the government’s renewable energy scheme, the textiles sector would also get subsidy on equipments to tap solar power,” Rao said.
