Indian Textile Industry

Abstract

Textile industry is the second largest industry in the world only next to agriculture. It forms the backbone of the economy of the developing nations, viz, India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. In India, the textile industry contributes substantially to the foreign exchange earned by the country. The export market consists of wide range of items like cotton yarn and fabrics, man-made yarn and fabrics; wool and silk fabrics, made-ups and variety of garments. India's textile products including, handlooms and handicrafts are exported to more than hundred countries. However, USA, UK, EU member countries, Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Korea, Bangladesh, Turkey etc are the major importers of India's textile products. The Indian textile industry plays a pivotal role through its contribution of about 14% to industrial production, 4% to GDP and 16.63% to export earnings. Its share in global textiles and apparels is 3.9% and 3% respectively. This shows that it hold potential if one is ready to innovate. The textile industry is the largest industry in terms of employment; currently it provides direct employment to 35 million people and is expected to generate 12 million new jobs by 2010. It is the second largest sector providing employment, after agriculture sector. The close linkage of the industry to the agriculture and the ancient culture and the tradition of the country make the Indian textile sector unique, in comparison to the textile sector of other countries. This industry is growing by 9% to 10%, and the pace would accelerate to 16% in the coming years. This also provides the Industry with the capacity to produce a variety of products suitable to different market segments, both within and outside the country. The Indian Textile Industry is extremely varied, with the hand-spun and hand-woven sector at one end of the spectrum, and the capital intensive, sophisticated mill sector at the other. The major sub-sectors that comprise the textile sector include the organized Cotton/Manmade Fibre Textile Mill Industry, the Man-made Fibre/Filament Yarn Industry, the Wool & Woollen Textile Industry, the Sericulture and Silk Textiles Industry, Handlooms, the Jute & Jute Textiles Industry and Textiles Exports.