Dubai: The ‘Textile Week’ kicked off yesterday at the India Pavilion in EXPO2020 with the country looking at a fresh investment of $2.5 billion in the sector, which would be key to a ‘Self-reliant India’ and becoming a preferred global sourcing partner in textiles.

The textile industry will showcase India’s rich cultural heritage during the week and deliberate on key initiatives taken by the government to create an ecosystem for the country to become a preferred sourcing partner for textile and clothing. In a video message, Minister of State for Textile & Railways, Darshana V Jardosh, said, “The present-day Indian textiles not only reflect the glittering past but also cater to the demands of modern times. Indian textile industry is one of the largest in the world, with a large raw material base and manufacturing strength across the value chain.”

She added, “To further improve the industrial ecosystem, scale, and integrated value chain, the textiles sector is a key sector that will help in building an ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ or Self-Reliant India.”

The textiles sector contributes around 2-3% to Indian GDP, 7% to Industrial output, 12% to the export earnings of India, around 11-12% to total merchandize export and around 4.5 crore people are directly engaged with the textiles sector.

Addressing the gathering, Vijoy Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textile, said, “Despite a decline in total trade of textile & apparel sector during 2020-21, growth in textile and apparel trade reflected an encouraging trend in 2021-22 (April-Sept) with an increase of 69%, and the same stood at USD 24 billion.” He added, “India has a huge potential to grow in the textiles and apparel sector. The focus is on skills up-gradation, financial assistance, and integrating the sector with the latest technology.”

The PLI scheme worth Rs 10,683 (USD 1.45 Bn), launched by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal, will help boost manufacturing, increase exports and attract investments into the sector. India has also launched Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (PM MITRA) scheme with an outlay of INR 4,445 crore (USD 600 Bn) to build 7 mega textile parks. These parks will create a modern, integrated large-scale, world-class industrial infrastructure including plug ‘n’ play facilities.

National Technical Textiles Mission Scheme approved in February 2020 with a four-year implementation period from 2020-21 to 2023-24, is aimed at improving the penetration of technical textiles and strengthening India’s position as a global leader in technical textiles.

Outlining the government initiatives, Jay Karan Singh, Trade Advisor, Ministry of Textiles, said, “The aim is to attract fresh investment of INR 19,000 crore (USD 2.5 Bn) and create an additional 7.5 lakh (0.75 Mn) direct jobs in the textile sector in coming years. The PLI Scheme will also aim to increase the turnover of the textile industry by a whopping INR 3 trillion (USD 40+ Bn) over the next five years.”

The ‘Textile Week’ will see participation from all the stakeholders in the sector, including Dr A Sakthivel, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council; Chandrasekaran Thuvarapalayam Visvanathan, Chairman, Handloom Export Promotion Council; MA Ramasamy, Chairman, Powerloom Development & Export Promotion Council; Umar Hameed, Chairman, Carpet Export Promotion Council; Sanjeev Dhir, Chairman, Wool & Woollens Export Promotion Council; Bhadresh Dodhia, Vice Chairman, The synthetic and Reyon Textiles Export Promotion Council; Aakash Mittal, Vice Chairman, The Indian Silk Export Promotion Council; Prem Malik, Past Chairman, The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council & CITI and Vice Chairman, NSL Textiles Ltd. and T Rajkumar, Chairman CITI; Rakesh Kumar Verma, Executive Director, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts; Siddharth Lohariwal, Vice-Chairman, Jute Products Development & Export Promotion Council and K Kalimuthu, Consul (Trade, Commerce & Economic), Consulate General of India besides other industry stalwarts.