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The Textile Magazine
JUNE 2012
in the technical textiles
sector. By 2020 these
measures could amount to
a total market volume of
around $37 billion.
Q: What particular
risks and opportunities
do you see for the Indian
textile industry in the
medium term?
A:
The biggest risk
is the partly sluggish
development of the infra-
structure. Of course that
applies to other branches
of Indian industry, not
only textiles. But the end
result of it is that some
textile centers have an
insufficient power supply,
and sometimes this leads
to considerable produc-
tion losses. I already
mentioned that work-
ers are becoming more
expensive – that’s another
aspect. In comparison
with Vietnam, Cambo-
dia or Bangladesh, this
development could lead to
India becoming a second
choice. A lack of compli-
ance on critical themes
like environmental issues
or child labor – espe-
cially in the case of small
companies with no proper
organization – is being
projected onto the whole
of the Indian textile indus-
try and scaring off several
Western customers.
Yet the opportunities
outweigh the risks. The
biggest potential for fur-
ther growth in the Indian
textile industry lies in the
increasing buying power
of the country’s huge
population, which also
happens to have an unusu-
ally low average age of
just 24. Annual economic
growth currently amounts
to between 6 and 7 per
cent. As in other Asian
countries that are stead-
ily developing industri-
ally, labor costs in India
are becoming 10 to 15
per cent more expensive
each year. This means
risks but also opportuni-
ties, because in this way
the development toward
a higher-quality machine
park with improved pro-
ductivity is being acceler-
ated.
From discussions with
our customers we’ve
clearly noticed that this
development is growing
more rapid all the time.
Overall, the Indian textile
industry is getting better
all the time at organizing
itself. One example here
is the “forward integra-
tion” of spinning mills,
which increases the
amount of value added in
their own companies and
significantly reduces over-
all throughput times. The
integration process will
drive demand for qual-
ity and productivity. In
other words: Investments
in new technologies will
become necessary.
– Source: Groz-Beckert
online newsletter-2, 2012
The Groz-Beckert site in Chandigarh, India
exclusive