T&A Sector Poised To Reap Benefits From National Manufacturing Mission

Amidst global uncertainties arising out of tariff war and geopolitical headwinds, the Union government is gearing up to strengthen the country’s manufacturing ecosystem. In one of its latest initiatives, the government is currently in the process of chalking out a roadmap for the ambitious National Manufacturing Mission which was announced by the Union Finance Minister in her Budget 2025-26 address. The mission is aimed at bolstering the growth of the MSME sector in order to further the government’s ‘Make in India’ efforts across various sectors. The mission will provide much needed policy support, execution roadmaps, governance and monitoring framework for central ministries and states and help build a strong manufacturing base in a mission mode manner.

In order to give this mission a shape and prepare a blueprint to take it forward, the Niti Aayog recently convened a meeting of stakeholders involving industry groups and officials from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The meeting was headed by Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer, BVR Subrahmanyam. Among the industry groups, the T&A sector was also represented by Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, the apex industry body.

Chandrima Chatterjee, Secretary General, CITI

“In the given scenario, we definitely need a mission mode approach and the National Manufacturing Mission is way forward to bolster our manufacturing base. We have made our representation where we have urged the Mission to have a value chain approach to address various challenges faced by the MSME segment which in the T&A sector accounts for over 80 per cent of the production. For the growth of the Indian T&A sector, it is essential that MSMEs are able to invest, modernize and grow,” says Chandrima Chatterjee,  Secretary General, CITI.

“We need well-structured schemes to incentivize capacity creation for MSMEs.  It is recommended to announce schemes with a mix of an upfront capital subsidy and performance-based incentives to catalyze investment across the value chain. Higher investment threshold and limited product coverage have limited the scope of the already announced PLI scheme to be used by MSMEs. Hence, it is recommended to bring down the threshold and encourage the participation of MSMEs. PM Mitra kind of infrastructure for promoting scale and enhancing supply chain efficiency is imperative for supporting  sustainable production in the MSME sector,” adds Chatterjee.

Gurudas Aras, Strategic Advisor to ITA GmbH, Rabatex Industries and Yamuna Machine Works and Independent Director to Rossari Group of companies

While making its representation, CITI has drawn the attention towards raw material security, stating that the higher raw material prices and poor availability is making the whole value chain non-competitive for MSMEs. To achieve the target textile market size of $350 billion by 2030, the industry would call for at least double the raw material at present available and hence needs requisite policies to promote production as also imports of such raw material. At present cotton, polyester and viscose fibres are all available at 15-30 per cent higher prices than prevailing international prices. The non-availability of certain specialty fibre/filaments/yarns is affecting the manufacturing of specialized and innovative products. Rather than raw material, the effective implementation of QCOs calls for such regulations on final products. It will also ensure demand driven top-down QCO adoption by the value chain

“In order to provide relief to the MMF sector, the government may consider decreasing the GST rate from 18 per cent to 12 per cent levied on basic raw materials and fibres. Besides this, the government must ensure ease of refunds for MSMEs, reduce slabs to 2 or 3 through rationalisation of GST rates, make refund process for state GST more efficient and more streamlining of customs clearance process, ”says the CITI representation.

Sanjay Jain, Managing Director, TT Ltd

“In this uncertain scenario, we desperately need a mission mode support from the government.  The National Manufacturing Mission announced by the Finance Minister to strengthen our MSME base is a much called for in case of an industry like T&A where a large chunk of production comes from these smaller businesses,” says Gurudas Aras, Independent Director & Strategic Advisor.

“While challenges are there, we have opportunities as well, and all this will depend on how we prepare ourselves. All stakeholders including policy makers will have to work in a more cohesive manner. We have to put all our efforts on fast track to realise the set goals in a time bound manner,” states Sanjay Jain, Managing Director, TT Ltd.

“We have to strengthen our manufacturing sector, and in this changing world order, we have to ramp up capabilities and capacities in a time bound manner. If properly implemented, efforts like National Manufacturing Mission can go a long way in revamping the current set up. Apart from fast tracking the existing schemes, we need to incentivise MSMEs adequately. Ensuring raw material, technology and supply chain financing will be crucial to build this ecosystem,” says Ravichandran Venkataraman, Founder, Alive Consultancy.

Ravichandran Venkataraman, Founder, Alive Consultancy

Meanwhile, the Union Ministry of Textiles on its part is also contemplating putting on fast track various exiting schemes ranging from PM Mitra Parks to PLI scheme as also various policy initiatives in order to ensure time-bound implementation of initiatives and achieve the desired outcome. The aim is to make the industry competitive and robust so that it not only caters to the global market but also meets the aspiring requirements of the domestic market.

The ministry has up set a target of growing the industry to $350 billion by 2030 and create a job opportunity for 60 million people. It is also looking to create world class capabilities and capacities for technical textiles through the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) with the aim to take the exports of these high-performance specialised textiles to $ 10 billion by 2030.

Amid increasing uncertainty in the global economy, South Asia’s growth prospects have weakened, with projections downgraded in most countries in the region. Stepping up domestic revenue mobilization could help the region strengthen fragile fiscal positions and increase resilience against future shocks, says the World Bank in its half-yearly regional outlook.

In India, the World Bank says that growth is expected to slow from 6.5 per cent in FY24-25 to 6.3 per cent as in FY25-26 as the benefits to private investment from monetary easing and regulatory streamlining are expected to be offset by global economic weakness and policy uncertainty.