India’s textile apparel exports rise 31%
India
The textile industry plays a key role in the country’s economy. It currently contributes about 14% to industrial production, 4% to GDP and 17% to export earnings, and is the second largest provider of employment after agriculture, providing direct employment to some 35 million people.
Total production of cloth in all sectors—mills, powerlooms, handlooms, hosiery and khadi, wool and silk—has shown an upward trend in recent years and is expected to reach 49,542 million square metres during 2006-07.
In the cotton/man-made fibre textiles sector, 2005-06 saw production reach 1,656 million square metres, with an expectation of 1,900 million square metres in 2006-07; cotton production reached a record high of 243 lakh bales, and is expected to remain the same during 2006-07, despite a reduction in the area under cultivation; the powerloom industry contributed 62% of the total cloth produced in the country (30,254 million square metres).
