Lack of R&D, infrastructural facilities cited as growth deterrents
The Textile Association (India), Delhi, successfully organised the “National Textile Seminar 2013” in New Delhi on April 12 presided over by Mr. A.B. Joshi, Textile Commissioner. The inaugural session witnessed a wide mix of audience comprising different stakeholders in the textile value chain from renowned organizations and academia.
Mr. Shekhar Agarwal, Vice Chairman, LNJ Bhilwara Group, was the Guest of Honour. The other dignitaries included Mr. Sudhish Aggarwala, Chairman, NTS-2013, Mr. R.K. Vij, President, TA(I)-Delhi, Dr. Anil Gupta, National Vice President, TA(I), and Mr. Ashish Dhir, Founder and Managing Director, Wisedge Consulting.
With its theme “Propelling Growth for Innovation”, the seminar started on a welcome note by Mr. Sudhish Aggarwala, who expressed his immense pleasure and extended a warm welcome to the delegates, panelists and guests present on the occasion.
In his presidential address, Mr. Vij thanked all the speakers and reinforced that the seminar had been organized with the aim of providing a common platform for the industry stake-holders to get knowledge about the latest innovations and developments in the sector.
The Textile Association (I) – Delhi presented the Life Time Achievement Award to Mr. K.K. Agarwal, Chairman, Alps Industries Ltd., Mr. V. Sam Singh, Ex. President & MD, South Asia DuPont, Prof. G.S. Bhargava, Advisor, Advance Group of Colleges, Mr. P.S. Jain, Trustee, the Textile Association (I) – Delhi, and Mr. Dilip Gianchandani, Regional Director, Intertrek India Pvt. Ltd. This was followed by felicitating meritorious students with scholarships.
Mr. Shekhar Aggarwal addressed the audience by focusing on various issues faced by the textile industry which were subsequently taken up during the succeeding sessions. Some of the topics included the industry expectations from the Government, inter-sector squabbles, achievement of higher value addition to the end products, and labor shortage.
Mr. Joshi followed suit by taking this opportunity to highlight some of the recent significant schemes for the textile industry, and also conveyed that with the kind of active support from the Indian Government the textile industry should now focus on growth through constant innovation, modernization, automation, induction of new concept and modern technology.
Proposing a vote of thanks, Mr. D.K. Singh conveyed his heartiest regards for all the support provided for the seminar by the sponsors, partners, delegates, guests, media partners and knowledge partners.
After the inaugural session, there was a panel discussion with the first generation entrepreneurs in the textile industry on “How to create best-in-class textile business: Journey of first generation industrialists”. Mr. Ashish Dhir, Managing Partner of Wisedge Consulting, was the moderator of the session, and the panelists included Dr. R.C. Jain, Chairman, TT Group, Mr. K.K. Aggarwal, Chairman, Alps Industries Ltd., and Mr. V.K. Ladia, CMD, Shree Rajasthan Syntex Ltd. The discussion focused on the journey of the three leading industrialists in the textile sector, how they started their textile business and what all challenges they faced during their initial days.
The spotlight was on the changing industry scenario and the industry’s inability to attract younger generation. The discussion also covered the lack of infrastructure, systems and processes in the industry for sustained growth.
The panelists also discussed the problem of labor shortage in the textile sector, and stated that the industry needs to attract labor by opening new training centers, adopting new technology, using modern machineries and working towards the overall human resource management in the textile industry.
After the panel discussion, there were research papers presented on “Cosmetics in Textile Applications” from Clariant, “Bio-Innovation in Textile” from Novozymes and “Com4 Yarns – with 4 Spinning Technologies” from Rieter India Pvt. Ltd.
Mr. Emrah Esder, Global Head – Marketing Textile Chemicals, HO – Singapore, Mr. Jayant G. Khera, Regional Sales Manager – Textiles and Mr. Prasanta Deka, Head Marketing, presented their respective papers. Dr. R.C. Jain, Chairman, TT Group, was the session chairman.
After the presentation of research papers, there was the second panel discussion titled “Why, how & when to invest in a textile Innovation”. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Shailesh Kaushik, Chairman, Technical Committee, NTS – 2013. The eminent panelists for this session were Mr. Sushil Muhnot, CMD, SIDBI, Dr. M.K. Jain, Ex ED, GACL, Mr. Suneel Sharma, Head, Research & Strategy, Star Union Dai-ichi, Mr. Vijay Bhalla, Director, BECON, and Mr. Munish Tyagi, Senior Consultant-Textile industry & projects at Nuovatex Projects Co.
The panel was unanimous on the need for innovation for survival and growth, and shared the thoughts expressed at the inaugural session – the need for innovation across the spectrum, industry and academia working in sync to develop a synergy and bringing all stake-holders under one umbrella.
Mr. Sunil Muhnot provided very comprehensive information about SIDBI‘s schemes which have already been successfully implemented for MSMEs. The panelists brought on table innovative funding options to give impetus to innovation, shared the blueprint included, the suggestion of earmarking a percentage of industry’s turnover towards specific innovative research & development, and emphasized the role of world synergy involving all stake-holders in this competitive environment.
There is no denying the fact that over the years the Indian textile industry has created a strong industrial culture, pool of skilled manpower and knowledge base. But still, in American parlance, there has not been a “Sputnik Moment” in spite of having century-old industry traditions, more than two dozen textile institutes, research associations and centers of excellence. There is also alarming shortage of innovative R&D in these institutions. Even if innovative developments take place they won’t get translated into reality and commercial exploitation. Investment in real innovation-R&D even in top textile companies is in single digit at the best.
It is time for serious introspection in view of the fact that from general areas like energy, water conservation to specifics like spinning, fabric conversion, chemical processing, functional textiles, etc., there is a whole spectrum where even a minor development can lead to significant positive contribution. In this context, the industry can provide a ready platform for innovation – R&D through institute-industry interface – since their own professionals do not find time to indulge in basic R&D because of their preoccupation with routine investigative and trouble-shooting activities.
In this scenario wise counsel is being solicited from the experts representing the entire spectrum, encompassing core technology to finance & management. Endowed with decades of rich knowledge, wisdom and experience they will focus on grey areas so as to bring in all stake-holders to evolve a holistic approach and infuse R&D synergy for fuelling the growth of the economy.
The third panel discussion was titled “Enhancing growth by strengthening buyer-supplier relationship in textile and apparel”. The session was moderated by Mr. Ashish Dhir, Managing Partner, Wisedge Consulting. The panel members included Ms. Deepika Rana, Executive VP, Li & Fung India Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Anant Sadana, CEO, Apparel United, Mr. Prasham Kamdar, Managing Partner, Ptex Solutions, Mr. Anurag Rajpal, CEO, American Swan, and Mr. Shantanu Dugar, Director, Omega Designs Pvt. Ltd.
This session was focused on the empowerment of buyer-supplier relationship. The discussion highlighted the need for the industry to focus on areas like product development and innovations to produce high value-added products. The industry also needs to focus on the qualitative aspects of investments such as time, money and strategic inputs essential for building a long-term relationship.
The fourth discussion centred on “Paisa Vasool: Learning and Innovations from various stakeholders in textile and fashion value”. It was moderated by Mr. Ravindra Singh of Protech India Ltd. The list of panelists included Mr. Dilip Gianchandani, Regional Director, Intertek, Dr. R.S. Antil, Registrar, Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, and Dr. Rajesh Agarwal.
The discussion focused on how the industry can leverage the talented new generation along with the modern technology and the innovations happening in the industry. It also covered the current challenges in the human resources department of the textile industry and explained how a systematic approach can provide the solutions. Revolutionary changes on the academic front are just unavoidable.
The entire conference proceedings concluded with an attractive fashion show organised by the students of the Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences, Bhiwani, and Ginni Devi Modi Girls (PG) College, Modinagar.