Textile Industry Remains Resilient Amidst Turbulent Market Conditions

The domestic textile and apparel industry has so far shown a great deal of resilience and grit to sail through the ongoing challenging scenario following the imposition of steep tariffs by the US as also the overall sluggish demand conditions arising in the wake of difficult geopolitical situation. While the industry players are currently treading cautiously, they have kept their medium to long-term investment plans intact to a large extent. In the short run though, there are events to `wait and watch’ which experts believe is quite a natural reaction.  Overall, the industry is revisiting its strategy and coming up with one that should be in a position to withstand the headwinds in a more effective manner going forward.

While tougher negotiations with the buyers in the US (which normally accounts for around 29 per cent of India’s total exports of T&A) are underway, there are concerted efforts being put out by Indian companies to diversify both geographically and in terms of products basket. For many, the domestic market has turned out to be a big saviour. All said and done, the industry is desperately looking for an amicable deal between the US and India at the earliest. Industry players view that it has to be struck in the next few weeks itself, as beyond that the headwinds may start showing up in an acute manner.

Neeraj Jain, Joint Managing Director, Vardhman Textiles Ltd

“We are going ahead with all our investment initiatives. We are not directly exporting to the US market where Indian textiles and garments are facing higher tariffs. We are modernising and ramping up our capacities in the way we had planned,” says Neeraj Jain, Joint Managing Director, Vardhman Textiles Ltd. The company has announced an ambitious expansion plan with a total investment of Rs 2,350 crore, out of which Rs 2,000 crore have been earmarked for expansion across spinning, weaving and technical textiles, while Rs 350 crore are for expansion of its fabric processing capacity at the Budhni facility in Madhya Pradesh.

Sanjay Jain, Managing Director, TT Ltd

“We are quite hopeful that the impasse arising out of the US tariff will come to an end soon. As a company, we are continuing with our plans as decided, even in the short run, there are tweaking here and there. Hopefully, things will fall in place shortly,” says Sanjay Jain, Managing Director, TT Ltd.

Chandrima Chatterjee, Secretary General, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry

“No doubt, the ongoing impasse has impacted the overall business sentiment; however, the industry is managing the condition quite well. So far we have not seen any kneejerk reactions. Most of the major investments are moving as per plan. We all are optimistic that the condition will improve soon,” states Chandrima Chatterjee, Secretary General, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).

K M Subramanian, President, Tirupur Exporters Association

“After initial panic, units in Tirupur have shown a great deal of determination and resilience. Things have stabilised to a great extent. We have diversified ourselves to mitigate the challenges. From making basic garments, players are shifting to difficult garments/styles and are doing reasonably well. Hopefully, we will be much more resilient to such shocks in future. Despite all challenges, we will be able to maintain last year’s exports numbers this year,” says K M Subramanian, President, Tirupur Exporters Association.

As the domestic textile industry is trying to mitigate the slowdown in demand by adopting multiple measures, the textile machinery sector that depends on the capex carried out by the consumer industry, is also putting efforts to keep itself afloat.

Prashant Mangukia, Chairman, Textile Machinery Manufacturers’ Association

“Currently, we are definitely witnessing slowdown in demand as the overall sentiment is weak. But the extent of slowdown is not that alarming so far. The impact varies from segment to segment. In fact, some of the segments have kept their performance intact. There are industry players who are evaluating newer areas like technical textiles where the potential is huge. Diversification is the only way that can help build more robust portfolio. It is high time that the machinery industry puts more efforts and resources in R&D and innovations,” states Prashant Mangukia, Textile Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (TMMA).

Meanwhile, the PM MITRA Textile Park in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, the foundation stone of which was laid recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has received an impressive response, attracting significant investment interest (over Rs 20,000 crore in proposals from over 110 companies) and commitments from a good number of textile companies. Out of these, applications from 91 companies and units have been approved, and the allocation of more than 1,294 acres of land has been recommended.

Vardhman Textiles has proposed to invest Rs 2,000 crore in the PM MITRA Textile Park in Dhar. Other companies include Jain Cord Industries (Rs 2,515 crore), AB Cotspin India Ltd (Rs 1,300 crore), Trident Ltd (Rs 4,881 crore), Best Lifestyle Apparel Pvt Ltd (Rs 981 crore), Sharmanji Yarns (Rs 836 crore) and Sanatan Polycot (Rs 1,000 crore),

Spread across 2,158 acres, with an investment potential of over Rs 12,000 crore, this park is poised to transform not only the textile and apparel industry of Madhya Pradesh but also India’s positioning in the global value chain, says a state government official.

Recently, the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation, in association with the Ministry of Textiles, conducted a stakeholder consultation meet to explore partnership opportunities for the development of PM MITRA parks at Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh; Kalaburagi in Karnataka and Navsari in Gujarat.

Dr Gurudas Aras, Independent Director and Strategic Advisor

In all, the government has finalized setting up of PM MITRA parks at seven locations — Tamil Nadu (Virudhnagar), Telangana (Warangal), Gujarat (Navasari), Karnataka (Kalaburagi), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow), Madhya Pradesh (Dhar) and Maharashtra (Amravati). These parks aim to create fully integrated, large-scale textile ecosystems. Collectively, they are expected to attract nearly Rs 70,000 crore in investments.

“A scheme like PM MITRA is a major infrastructure scheme. If implemented in a time-bound manner, such parks will boost our T&A infrastructure in a big way. Equipped with world-class industrial infrastructure, PM MITRA Parks will enable the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, boost foreign direct investment and domestic investment, significantly reduce logistics costs and enhance the global competitiveness of India’s textile sector,” says Dr Dr Gurudas Aras, Independent Director and Strategic Advisor.