Indian Textile Industry

The Indian textile industry is one of the oldest industries to have come into existence in the country. Indian textile industry is the second largest in the world next to China. Though was predominantly unorganized industry even a few years back, but the scenario started changing after the economic liberalization of Indian economy in 1991. The opening up of economy gave the much-needed thrust to the Indian textile industry, which has now successfully become one of the largest in the world. India textile industry largely depends upon the textile manufacturing and export. It also plays a major role in the economy of the country. India earns about 17% of its total foreign exchange through textile exports. Further, the textile industry of India also contributes nearly 14% of the total industrial production of the country. It also contributes around 4% to the GDP of the country. India textile industry is also the largest in the country in terms of employment generation. It not only generates jobs in its own industry, but also opens up scopes for the other ancillary sectors. It provides direct employment to over 35 million people. The Textiles sector is the second largest provider of employment after agriculture.

Indian textile industry can be divided into several segments, some of which can be listed as below:

Cotton Textiles Silk Textiles Woolen Textiles Readymade Garments Hand-crafted Textiles Jute and Coir

Strengths

Vast textile production capacity Large pool of skilled and cheap work force Efficient multi-fiber raw material manufacturing capacity Large domestic market Enormous export potential Very low import content Flexible textile manufacturing systems

Weaknesses

Increased global competition in the post 2005 trade regime under WTO Imports of cheap textiles from other Asian neighbours Use of outdated manufacturing technology Poor supply chain management Huge unorganized and decentralized sector High production cost with respect to other Asian competitors

Overview of the Textile industry

The economic survey 2010-11, gives a detailed analysis of the economic situation of the country, over the past 12 months. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is estimated to have grown at 8.6 per cent in 2010-11 in real terms. Growth in the industrial sector was buoyant during the first two quarters (April-June, JulySeptember) of the current financial year and is as follows:

Cotton textiles production grew by 10.1 per cent during April-November 201011 as compared to 3.6 per cent during April-November 2009-10. Jute textiles production has also recovered and grew by 6.8 per cent as compared to a decline of 16.7 per cent during April-November 2009-10. Textile products grew by 5.7 per cent during April-November 2010-11 as compared to 3.9 per cent during the corresponding months of the previous year. In the wool, silk and man-made fibres segment of textiles, growth has however, dipped to a mere 0.1 per cent during April-November 2010, as compared to 13 per cent during April-November 2009-10.

The overall production of textile fabrics increased by 1.9 per cent, during AprilOctober 2010-11. This is a moderate performance when compared with the robust increase of 8.8 per cent during 2009-10. The decline in textile fabrics/cloth during the current financial year has been on account of comparatively lower growth rates in the production of mill, power loom and hosiery segments.