India ITME Advances UK-India FTA & ASEAN Partnerships In Singapore
India ITME Society hosted the India Networking Program, Fabricating the Future of Textile Industry: From Heritage to High-Tech on 29 October 2025 in Singapore, bringing together officials from the Ministry of Textiles, embassy representatives, global industry leaders, entrepreneurs, technocrats, and media. Held alongside ITMA Asia + CITME Singapore, the event aimed to deepen collaboration, promote technology exchange and explore new sourcing and investment opportunities in the Indian textile and textile machinery sector.
The interactive business evening drew 183 delegates from the USA, UK, China, Sweden, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey, Germany and Singapore. The program aligns with India’s strategic push to accelerate trade partnerships, enable technology sourcing and promote joint ventures in textiles and textile engineering.
Addressing the gathering, Rohit Kansal (IAS), Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, highlighted India’s position as one of the world’s leading hubs for weaving and knitting machinery installations. With a rapidly expanding domestic market of 1.4 billion consumers, he noted that India represents one of the most promising destinations for textile machinery investment over the next decade.
Under his leadership, the Indian delegation engaged with top global industry bodies including BTMA (UK), TAMI (Taiwan), ITMF, TEMSAD (Turkey), TMAS (Sweden), CTMA (China) and Singapore’s Federation of Merchants’ Associations.
Attendees from across the Globe
H.E. Dr. Shilpak Ambule (IFS), High Commissioner of India to Singapore, stressed Singapore’s role as India’s 6th largest trade partner and ASEAN’s most significant partner. He noted strong complementarities, India as a major garment supplier and Singapore as a hub for design, distribution and retail.
Representing Indian industry, Hemant Sharma, President – Polyester, Reliance Industries Ltd., emphasized India’s emergence as a responsible and resilient global sourcing hub, contributing to the nation’s long-term goal of becoming a US$ 30 trillion economy by 2047.
A key highlight was the discussion following the recently signed UK–BTMA cooperation framework. Jason Kent, CEO, BTMA, described the UK–India FTA negotiations as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to co-create a more sustainable, balanced and future-ready global textile order, combining India’s manufacturing strength with the UK’s design, research and sustainability expertise.
Ketan Sanghvi, Chairman, India ITME Society, highlighted the robust economic sentiment in India, marked by a 25% rise in Diwali spending in 2025. He confirmed the Society’s commitment to advancing global industry engagement and announced that India ITME 2026, scheduled from 4–9 December 2026 at IEML, Greater Noida, will be the most significant textile engineering event in Southeast Asia.
