Hope for India’s textile sector
India’s textile minister Dayanidhi Maran has said the industry is starting to show signs of recovery. Speaking at a FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) conference on ‘Emerging global trends and the way forward for Indian Textiles Industry’, he claimed investment, production, employment and export levels rose during 2009.
The minister claimed that between April and November, cloth production rose 10.8%, manmade fibre and yarn production grew 21.3% and 11.8%, respectively, and total spun yarn production increased 5.1%.
The second quarter of the current fiscal has seen a strong recovery in textile sales, with weaving companies posting sales growth of 19.8%, spinners seeing sales rise 8.9%, manmade fibre sales grew 15.7% and readymade garment sales rising 14.2%.
The minister said that India’s overall textiles exports, excluding garments, fell 21.8% between April and June, however, the tide turned in July, when exports rose 2.9%. Apparel exports also started to improve after eight consecutive months of decline.
According to Mr Maran, 60% of Indian textile exports and more than 70% of its clothing exports are shipped to the US and the EU27. He said companies should broaden their horizons and their product offerings if a full recovery is to be made.
