Workers inspecting garments at a knitwear export unit in Tiruppur. File
| Photo Credit: SIVA SARAVANAN S

Apparel exports continued to grow, registering an 11.84% year-on-year increase in July 2024. While textile exports last month remained almost the same at $ 1660.36 million as against $ 1663.06 million in July 2023, apparel exports were $ 1,277.2 million compared with $ 1,141.95 million last July. The cumulative year-on-year growth of the textile and apparel sector in July 2024 was 4.73 % and for the April – July period, the total textile and apparel exports grew 4.24 % this year.

Imports continued to be a matter of concern for the industry, with yarn, fabric, and made-up imports registering a 5.30 % increase in April – July 2024 compared with April – July last year, according to the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry.

A woman inspects garments at a knitwear export unit in Tiruppur. File
| Photo Credit: S. Siva Saravanan

The global textile industry, including textile machinery and garment manufacturing, continues to be concerned about “weak demand” in the market, according to a recent survey.

The latest results of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS), which was conducted in the second half of May, show that most companies pointed to weak demand as the main concern since the end of 2022. Inflation, high raw material prices, energy costs, logistics costs, and geopolitics are some of the other concerns .

“These factors are weighing on consumer and business confidence and are holding back demand to a certain extent,” said K.V. Srinivasan, president of the ITMF.

The survey also revealed that the global textile value chain finds itself still in a relatively poor state. However, since the beginning of 2023, companies across the board are anticipating an improvement in the business environment in the coming months.

The regions with the best business situation in May were Africa and South-East Asia, and except East Asia, other regions expect a better business situation in the next six months.

The textile and apparel industry, while welcoming extension of the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme for two years, has expressed disappointment over unchanged Import Duties.

Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council chairman Sunil Patwari said continuation of the RoSCTL was essential for the long-term trade planning. Orders could be placed in advance for long-term delivery.

The scheme has seen an increased allocation from ₹8,404.66 crore last year to ₹9,246 crore in the budget this year.

Apparel Export Promotion Council chairman Sudhir Sekhri said continuation of the RoSCTL for export of garments and apparel till the end of March 31, 2026 would give the much needed relief to the industry as the traditional markets of the US and the EU were under stress.

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) chairman Rakesh Mehra said there was no major policy announcement in the interim budget. “The industry needs immediate relief from the financial stress, especially in the spinning sector.”

The total budget allocation for textiles has increased by 27.6 %, largely due to the allocation of ₹600 crore for Cotton Corporation of India towards the cotton MSP operations. Cotton procurement by CCI should be revamped as per policies recommended by user industry associations to ensure price stability and discourage speculative trading.

The allocation for RoSCTL and RoDTEP had increased by 10% and 5.8% respectively, which was modest. The industry was trying to enhance export performance and expects better allocations for trade promotion in the full budget to be announced after the elections, he said.

S.K. Sundararaman, chairman of the Southern India Mills’ Association, said the demands of the textile industry relating to the raw material issues and a few other industry demands should be considered in the full-fledged budget. He welcomed the announcement of measures to encourage green power, including bio-manufacturing, roof top solar and offshore wind to reduce the carbon footprint and the initiatives to prepare the country for meeting the sustainability goals.

According to Sanjay Jain, former chairman of Textile Sector Skill Council, the budget does not offer any major supportive measure to the industry. It did not remove the Import Duty on cotton and or changed the duty on fabric imports, he said.

Tiruppur Exporters Association president K.M. Subramanian said the budget had no announcement related to the textile sector and “We hope there will be supportive measures in the final budget.”

The PTA Users Association general secretary R.K. Vij said it expected corrective changes in Customs Duty for fabrics. However, at least in the full budget the government should make the necessary changes along with rationalisation of the GST rates for manmade fibre sector.

Indo Count Industries, a leading manufacturer and exporter of bedlinen in the home textile space, plans to double its revenue in the next four years to almost ₹6,000 crores.

In an interaction, KK Lalpuria, its Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, said the company has invested ₹1100 crore in the past couple years and achieved 75% of capacity utilisation last year. Indo Count gets 14% of its revenue from e-commerce and about 2.5% from domestic sales.

“As a company, we are finding product diversification within our complete product basket, to meet their (customer) expectation level, said Mr. Lalpuria He added that “because retailers are selling not only sheets, but also, say, mattress protectors, mattress pads, pillow protectors, pillows and comforters… there is a lot of space to grow where China once dominated.

Mr. Lalpuria recalled that Indian textile industry began with supplying only bed linen sets, but the product mix has expanded to fashion bedding, utility bedding, and institutional bedding.

When the revenue doubles, fashion utility and institutional beddings should form almost 30% of the increased revenue for Indo Count, he said.