| The Indian Textile and Apparel Industry | By Devangshu Dutta |
Based on a presentation made at Interstoff-Asia Spring 2003
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The Indian textile industry is very large and diverse - an hour-long presentation is hardly adequate to cover all its aspects, but I will attempt to piece some of the pieces of this puzzle together for this gathering.
The Indian textile sector has its roots going back several thousand years. After the industrial revolution in Europe, this sector in India also saw growth of an industrial complex. However, over the last 50 years the textile industry in India has shown a chequered performance.
Today the industry contributes around 14% to industrial production in the country, is estimated to directly employ approximately 35 million people apart from the indirect employment in allied sectors, accounts for a about 27% to the country's exports, and is, in sum, an important economic engine for the nation.
In part, the very diversity, scale and spread of the industry which has been its strength, has also been its weakness. Like the "six blind men exploring the elephant" most people's experiences and actions have included only part of the industry, rather than its completeness. Thus, even government regulations and financial policies have never been able to adequately fulfil the widely varied needs of the different segments of the industry.
However, during the last 10 years, the industry's actions, government policies as well as market events have begun to converge, providing several growth opportunities for the sector domestically as well as in the global market. As the MFA quota-regime draws to a close, India presents many opportunities for buyers, suppliers and investors to partner with its textile industry, and to profit from the partnership.
Next page: Vertical Chain and Variety of Products » Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
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