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What ails the The domestic textiles and apparel industry

contributes 2.3 per cent to India’s GDP
country’s and accounts for 13 per cent of industrial
production, and 12 per cent of the country’s
export earnings. The textiles and apparel
textile industry in India is the second-largest
employer in the country providing
industry? employment to 45 million people. However,
the Indian textile industry is in the throes of a
crisis. A report by shveta mishra

ndia’s share in the global textiles the cheaper import of garments and yarn sports textiles and development of bio-
exports is just 5 per cent, which is from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Indone- degradable technical textiles.
minuscule as compared to China’s sia. This is because of the lower cost of The fundamental research activities
share of 38 per cent. Much smaller their raw materials as compared to India. will be based on ‘pooled resource’ meth-
I players like Bangladesh and Viet- od and will be conducted in various Cen-
nam have a share of 3 per cent in global Textiles Mission okayed tre for Scientific and Industrial Research
exports and are increasingly threatening It is in this context that the decision tak- (CSIR) laboratories, Indian Institute of
India’s exports. en on February 26,2020 by the Cabinet Technology (IIT) and other scientific/in-
Estimated at $16.2 billion in the finan- Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired dustrial/academic laboratories of repute.
cial year 2019, India’s apparel exports fell by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Application-based research will be con-
by 1.2 per cent from the financial year can give much-needed relief to the ail- ducted in CSIR, IIT, Research Design and
2018, which in turn was 4 per cent lower ing industry. The Cabinet Committee on Standards Organization (RDSO) of Indian
than the previous year. Even the share Economic Affairs has given its approval Railways, Indian Council of Agricultural
of apparel exports in the country’s total to set up The National Technical Tex- Research (ICAR), Defence Research &
textile exports have fallen sharply from tiles Mission with a total outlay of 1480 Development Organization (DRDO),
51 per cent in the financial year 2017 to 45 crores, with a view to positioning the National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL),
per cent in the financial year 2019. country as a global leader in Technical Indian Road Research Institute (IRRI) and
Textiles. The Mission would have a four- other such reputed laboratories.
High input costs year implementation period from the The component of promotion and
Some of the issues that are holding the financial year 2020-21 to 2023-24. market development would also be
industry back include higher taxes, high Technical Textiles are a futuristic and there. It says that the Indian Technical
cost of raw materials and cheap imports. nice segment of textiles, which are used Textiles segment is estimated at USD 16
The Northern India Textile Mills Associa- for various applications ranging from Billion, which is approximately 6 per cent
tion (NITMA) alleged that a multi-stage agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sports- of the 250 Billion USD global technical
tax is levied on every value addition. State wear, health on one end to bullet proof textiles market. The penetration level of
and central taxes, plus levies are result- jacket, fire proof jackets, high altitude technical textiles is low in India varying
ing in Indian yarn becoming non-com- combat gear and space applications on between 5-10 per cent against the level
petitive in global markets. Then there other end of the spectrum. of 30-70 per cent in developed countries.
was high cost of raw material. The Mission will have four compo-
Compared to its global competitors, nents. The component of research, in- Mission targets
Indian spinning mills have to spend novation, and development will have an The Mission will aim at an average
more on raw materials, which directly outlay of 1000 crores. This component growth rate of 15-20 per cent per annum
affects their cost of production, and will promote both (i) fundamental re- taking the level of domestic market size
hence the country’s competitiveness in search at the fibre level aiming at path- to 40-50 Billion USD by the year 2024;
the global market. The cost of raw ma- breaking technological products in Car- through market development, market
terials is much higher as compared to bon Fibre, Aramid Fibre, Nylon Fibre, and promotion, international technical col-
global prices, which results in a loss of Composites and (ii) application-based laborations, investment promotions and
20-25 per kg to Indian mills. Also, the research in geo-textiles, agro-textiles, ‘Make in India’ initiatives.
cotton-spinning industry has been hit by medical textiles, mobile textiles, and The third component relates to ex-

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