Vital Stats
- world’s largest cultivator of cotton by acreage
- largest producer of jute
- 2nd largest producer of silk & cotton
- 2nd major global hub in man made fibres
- 2nd largest producer of polyester & viscose fibres
- 6th largest global exporter of textiles & apparel
Key announcements in Budget 2026-27 for textile sector
- Integrated Programme for Textile Sector
- National Fibre Scheme
- Textile Expansion and Employment Scheme
- National Handloom & Handicrafts Programme
- Samarth 2.0
- Mega Textile Parks and Technical Textiles
- Mahatma Gandhi Gram Swaraj Initiative:
- to strengthen Khadi, Handloom, handicrafts sector
- Export promotion Measures
- Liquidity support for MSME thru TReDS
- SME Growth Fund of Rs.10,000Cr
Other existing Govt Initiatives for Textile
- PLI for textile
- PM MITRA
- Amended Technology Upgradation & Fund Scheme
- National Technical Textiles Mission
- Textile Cluster Development Scheme
- Tex-RAMPS
- Silk Samagra Scheme
Challenges with Textile Industry
- raw material constraints
- poor cotton quality
- climate hit yield
- import dependence for synthetic fibres
- global competition, eg. Bangladesh, Vietnam, dumping of cheap man made fibre fabrics from china
- Geopolitical challenges eg. 50% US tariff on Indian goods
- lack of automation, leading to error and reduced productivity
- skill shortage, 90% weaving is unorganized sector
- complex regulatory framework
Way forward for textile sector
- adopt advanced automation
- AI, RFID, demand forecasting
- invest in infra, R&D - textile parks, Plug & play infra
- focus on technical textiles for high value growth
- boost domestic MMF
- enhance cotton supply chain
- leverage FTA to gain ero duty access to major intl markets
- upskill workforce
- Empower traditional Artisans
- Sustainability linked finance
Handlooms
support millions of livelihoods, esp. rural, but has :
- declining returns
- fragmented markets
- tech challenges
- loss of traditional skills
Significance of handloom
- associated with self reliance, national identity (swadeshi mvmt)
- 35L weaver employment across 31L household
- 70% workforce women
- imp src of non-farm rural employment
- intangible cultural heritage
- local designs, techniques, motifs
- community knowledge
Whats being done?
- National Handloom Development Program
- skill development
- design innovation
- branding
- technology
- market access
- way forward:
- handloom policy should go beyond mere preservation of traditional craft
- it should be transformed to an economically aspirational field
- greater access to design innovation, e-commerce, affordable credit, branding, GI protection, D2C market
- digital documentation of traditional knowledge for easy transmission to new weavers