Textiles is always considered a sunrise industry, the second largest employment provider accounting for over 11 per cent of the aggregate exports from the country. Though all the industry segments are quite active and kicking, the spinning segment has proved the real growth driver for the Indian economy with its roughly 25 per cent of the global spinning capacity. Basic to this growth is the adequate supply of quality cotton and yarn. Providing almost 27 per cent of global cotton supply, India now ranks No.2 in textile clothing exports, registering an annual growth of nine per cent since 1995. In fact, 27 per cent of the country’s exchange earnings are accounted for by textile and apparel exports.
In the emerging scenario, the Indian spinning industry prospects are indeed bright, and most of the spinning mills in the country are going in for massive expansion. Considering the increasingly vast potential in India, almost all the prominent spinning machinery manufacturers from overseas have set up operations in the country on their own or in partnership with their Indian counterparts. All said and done, due care has to be taken to check undue rise in cotton prices that would evidently cut into the margins of mills, resulting in partial or complete closure of operations and thus under-utilisation of capacity. Further, export of cotton should be allowed only after fully meeting the domestic demand. Cotton supply to the industry could very well be ensured by ending the nagging uncertainties gripping the cotton economy caused by the conflicting views on the yield by the concerned Ministries as well as the Cotton Advisory Board and other agencies.
With the Modi Government’s “Make in India” campaign catching on, the textile industry is in for a major transformation. In fact, under the campaign, over 25 sectors, including the textile and garment industry, have been covered. Having 24 per cent of spindles and eight per cent of rotors, India is the world’s second largest producer of cotton and silk. Among the other major steps announced by the new government are the setting up of six textile clusters at an outlay of Rs. 2 billion and simplification of TUFS with the proposed allotment of Rs. 2,500 crores this fiscal. Further, 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route in the textile sector has been announced to give a further fillip to the industry growth. Also to be noted is the Textile Ministry proposal to launch a venture capital fund with an initial corpus of Rs. 35 crores in association with SIDBI to support start-ups in the sector.
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