Report on

“Textile Investment Conclave”

Date: 11th February, 2014 Venue: Courtyard by Marriot, Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Organized by Supported by

Other Sponsors

2

CONTENTS

Background .......................................................................................................................................................... 4

Inaugural Session ................................................................................................................. 4

List of Dignitaries ................................................................................................................. 4

Session Details ..................................................................................................................... 5

Inaugural Address by Mr. Saurabh bhai Patel, Hon’ble Minister for Energy and Petrochemicals, Mines and Minerals, Cottage Industries, Salt Industries, Printing Stationary, Planning, Tourism, Civil Aviation, Labour and Employment, Government of Gujarat ...................................................................... 5

Welcome Address by Mr. Prem Malik, Chairman, CITI .............................................................................. 6

Keynote Address by Mr. Giuseppe Gherzi, Managing Partner, Gherzi Textile Organisation AG .............. 6

Keynote Address by Mr. Kamal Dayani, IAS, Industries Commissioner, Government of Gujarat ........... 7

Vote of Thanks by Mr. Chintan Parikh, Past Chairman, CITI ..................................................................... 8

Business Session I: Textile Policy of Gujarat and its Impact ................................................ 8

Speakers .......................................................................................................................................................... 8

Opening Remarks by Mr. V.K. Ladia, Chairman, Rajasthan Texchem Ltd. (Chairperson of the Session) ......................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Dr. Chandan Chatterjee, Senior Advisor, iNDEXTb and Director, CED .................................................... 8

Mr. Rajesh R. Mandawewala, MD, Welspun India Ltd. .............................................................................. 9

Mr. Sanjay Jain, MD TT Limited ................................................................................................................... 9

Mr. Ajay Sardana, Astt. Vice President, Global Customers & Market Intelligence, Birla Cellulose-Pulp & Fibre Business, GRASIM .............................................................................................................................. 10

Mr. Vishal Chiripal, CEO, Chiripal Industries Ltd. .................................................................................... 10

Concluding Remarks by Mr. V.K. Ladia, Chairperson of the Session ....................................................... 10

Business Session II: Global Textile Scenario ....................................................................... 11

Speakers ......................................................................................................................................................... 11

Mr. Mukund Choudhary, Deputy Chairman, CITI (Chairperson of the Session) ..................................... 11

Ms. Mary-Lynn Landgraf, Senior Intl Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), USA . 11

Mr. Soo-Young Yun, Executive Vice Chairman, Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI) ...... 12

Mr. P. Kasiviswanathan, Head of India Operations, Picanol India ........................................................... 13

Mr. P.K. Deka, VP, Sales and Marketing, Reiter India Pvt. Ltd. ............................................................... 13

Mr. Rajeev Arora, Executive Director, African Cotton & Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF) ........... 13

Business Session III: Technical Textiles ..............................................................................14

3

Speakers ........................................................................................................................................................ 14

Opening Remarks by Mr. Pramod Khosla, Chairman, Indian Technical Textile Association (Chairperson of the Session) ........................................................................................................................ 14

Dr. Anup Rakshit, Head, MTS and Product Development, Polyester Sector – PSF Business, Reliance Industries Ltd. .............................................................................................................................................. 14

Interactive Session with Mr. Sanjay Lalbhai, CMD, Arvind Ltd. .......................................... 15

Way Forward .......................................................................................................................16

4

Background Aimed at finding prospects and growth opportunities for textile industry in Gujarat and the scope of enhancing investment, the Textile Investment Conclave, 2014 was held on 11th February, 2014 at Marriott Hotel, Ahmedabad. The event attracted a large number of stalwarts from the textiles and allied industries for exploring the possibility of investments in various segments of the textile value chain in Gujarat. The conclave was organized by Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) and supported by Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb). The other sponsors of the event were Arvind Ltd., Picanol Group, Rieter India Pvt. Ltd., Chiripal Industries Ltd., Saurer Textile Solutions, Reliance Industries Ltd. and Group Ashima.

Inaugural Session

List of Dignitaries Name Organization Designation

Mr. Saurabh bhai Patel Government of Gujarat

Hon’ble Minister for Energy and Petrochemicals, Mines and Minerals, Cottage Industries, Salt Industries, Printing Stationary, Planning, Tourism, Civil Aviation, Labour and Employment

Mr. Kamal Dayani, IAS Government of Gujarat Industries Commissioner

Mr. Prem Malik CITI Chairman

Mr. Giuseppe Gherzi Gherzi Textile Organization AG Managing Partner

5

Mr. Chintan Parikh CITI Past Chairman

Session Details

Inaugural Address by Mr. Saurabh bhai Patel, Hon’ble Minister for Energy and Petrochemicals, Mines and Minerals, Cottage Industries, Salt Industries, Printing Stationary, Planning, Tourism, Civil Aviation, Labour and Employment, Government of Gujarat

Hon’ble Minister in his inaugural address congratulated CITI for organizing the maiden Textile

Investment Conclave in Gujarat. Gujarat, with its aggressive textile policy is aiming to become the

biggest textile hub not only in the country but also globally in the next 5 to 7 years. Though the state has

a robust textile industry there are also some gaps which need to be addressed. It is believed that with

the revised Textile Policy 2012, the state will be able to overcome these weaknesses and further

strengthen the entire value chain of this industry. Technical textiles are gaining importance in the

industry not only in India, but also globally. It is envisaged that the revised policy will help boost this

sector as well. Besides, the policy, another crucial step in this regard is the promotion of skill

development and training of the human capital. Companies should initiate provision of in-house

trainings in the factory floor shops.

With the State Government’s vision of promoting inclusive development, setting up of manufacturing

units in the rural areas which will not only be cost effective but will also help generate rural

employment, is highly encouraged.

6

Welcome Address by Mr. Prem Malik, Chairman, CITI

Mr. Prem Malik in his address extended his gratitude to Hon’ble Minister, Mr. Saurabhbhai Patel for his support and guidance in organizing this initiative of CITI to host the Textile Conclave first time in Ahmedabad. The Conclave provided a platform to various stakeholders of the industry including suppliers and service providers to interact with each other as well as the government officials on their business and future expansion plans. The meltdown in the global economy and trade all over the world has impacted the global textile industry. Faced with increasing wages and other factor costs, China’s textile industry is witnessing a slowdown in their domestic investments. Chinese Textile companies are now stepping up investments in other Asian countries which would open up huge opportunities for all the Asian countries. Gujarat’s Textile Policy 2012, a revised version of the State’s Textile Policy of 2009, has encouraged industrialists to seriously look for fresh investment opportunities in Gujarat and Hon’ble Minister and his government’s role was highly appreciated.

Keynote Address by Mr. Giuseppe Gherzi, Managing Partner, Gherzi Textile Organisation AG Mr. Giuseppe Gherzi in his address spoke about the textile scenario across the World, India and

Gujarat. The Global textile industry is worth ~USD 1500 billion and is one of the largest industries in

the world today. Over 85 million tons of textile fibre enters the value chain of the world textile

market every year. It was stated that each segment of the textile market has been registering

growth. Countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, which are enjoying GSP status for terry towels and

home textile have tremendously improved their export market. He discussed that India lacks in the

production of man-made fibre which needs to be addressed and the retail base needs to be

7

expanded as well. FDI in large scale retail can help boost the textile sector in the country. Moreover,

India should also focus and invest in indigenous Original Equipment Manufacturers. It was

mentioned that Gujarat is a strategic location for textile business in the country with the presence

of several entities like research institutions and textile companies, with constant support from the

government to bolster the sector’s growth and make it more competitive.

Keynote Address by Mr. Kamal Dayani, IAS, Industries Commissioner, Government of Gujarat Mr. Kamal Dayani began by acknowledging Gujarat’s position as one of the leaders in the Indian textile

industry with presence in the entire textile value chain, attributed to the joint efforts of the Textile

Industry and initiatives of Government of Gujarat. He emphasized that value added products need to be

exported more, instead of

raw materials. Since Gujarat

is the leading producer of

cotton in the industry,

increased focus should be

given to setting up of more

processing units in the state

Moreover, Gujarat’s Textile

policy 2012 has been

received positively and the

State has attracted good

investment in this sector.

Various other

developments and

initiatives are being taken

by the state government to further enhance growth of this sector. Proposals for around 10-12 textile

and spinning parks are in the pipeline and are expected to be operational soon. Gujarat government is

planning to set up a new CoE in addition to the existing MANTRA in Surat and ATIRA in Ahmedabad,

which are India’s most well-known CoE for the textile industry, Gujarat is aiming to achieve investments

worth around INR 25,000 in textile and allied sectors in the next 5 -7 years. Further, the Government is

not only focusing on conventional textile but also technical textiles in order to draw investments in the

State. Technical textiles also have various commercial applications and should be explored and

developed further. This vision has also been supported by Gujarat’s textile policy.

8

Vote of Thanks by Mr. Chintan Parikh, Past Chairman, CITI Mr. Chintan Parikh extended his gratitude to Mr. Saurabhbhai Patel, Hon’ble Minister and Mr. Kamal

Dayani, IAS, Industries Commissioner. The Conclave has provided a forum for input suppliers and service

providers to interact with the other stakeholders of the industry as well as government officials and

discover new avenues to collaborate and indulge in knowledge sharing.

Business Session I: Textile Policy of Gujarat and its Impact

Speakers Name Organization Designation

Mr. V.K. Ladia

(Chairperson of the Session)

Rajasthan Texchem Ltd. Chairman

Dr. Chandan Chatterjee iNDEXTb Senior Advisor

Mr. Rajesh Mandawewala Welspun India Ltd. Managing Director

Mr. Sanjay Jain TT Limited Managing Director

Mr. Ajay Sardana Birla Cellulose-Pulp & Fibre Business, GRASIM Astt. Vice President, Global Customers & Market Intelligence

Mr. Vishal Chiripal Chiripal Industries Ltd. Vice-President & Global Head

Opening Remarks by Mr. V.K. Ladia, Chairman, Rajasthan Texchem Ltd. (Chairperson of the Session) Mr. V. K. Ladia deliberated on “Textile Policy of Gujarat and its Impact”. It was highlighted that the

Government of India has a vision to make textile industry to be worth of USD 220 billion by 2020. For

such a goal to be achieved, it is imperative that both the Federal and the State government undertake

initiatives and implement pro-industry policies. In this regard, Gujarat’s Textile Policy 2012 is an example

for all. Through this policy, the Gujarat Government aims to promote and facilitate mass participation in

the textile production segment of the country. Further, not only cotton but man-made fibres too are

critical in achieving this goal.

Dr. Chandan Chatterjee, Senior Advisor, iNDEXTb and Director, CED Topic: Policy Perspectives

9

Dr. Chandan Chatterjee in his address emphasized that Gujarat’s Textile Policy 2012 with the theme of

an integrated approach to strengthen the value chain aims for employment generation and

employability enhancement. The stronger and weaker sections of the textile value chain were

highlighted and it was mentioned that Gujarat’s Textile policy had been formulated keeping all these

aspects in consideration. Further, it was discussed how India has an advantageous position in the

current scenario when compared with the neighbouring countries like China, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

By 2020 China will be short of 10 million people of working age where as India will have a surplus of 47

million working people. Thus, to make the most of the large employable population of India, it is

important to promote skill development. Though the Government is promoting I.T.I.s, it is important

that industry majors also incorporate the programs of skill development in their methodologies.

Mr. Rajesh R. Mandawewala, MD, Welspun India Ltd. Topic: Growth Opportunities in Cotton Textiles in India and Gujarat

Mr. Rajesh R. Mandewala started his address by mentioning that the textile industry was offshored from

USA and EU to Asian countries. India, however, on a global scale has failed to capitalise on its inherent

advantage of raw material & manpower and is currently lagging in competition in textile industry. The

ways how that lag can be filled were discussed. It was highlighted that the neighbouring nations like

China, Pakistan and Bangladesh do not pose much threat to the competitiveness of India’s textile

industry. China for instance, is experiencing cotton and yarn deficit, Pakistan has certain geo political

issues and Bangladesh has some compliance issues. The Indian Textile sector should endeavour to

garner a substantial pie of global textile market. The revised Textile Policy 2012 is pro-farmer and pro

industry and thus encompasses an integrated approach towards growth strategy for ginning, spinning,

weaving, processing, made ups and technical textiles in the state. It was suggested that more flexible

labour policies should be envisaged upon. It was also pointed out that by having a framework for

contract farming to empower farmers as a partner in this growth journey would also help improve their

productivity.

Mr. Sanjay Jain, MD TT Limited Topic: Cotton and its complexities for the Indian Industry

Mr. Sanjay Jain in his address gave some inputs regarding Gujarat’s Textile policy. He pointed out that the Textile Policy lacks in providing support for the garment manufacturers. It was suggested that approvals must be time bound, disbursement should be seamless like in TUF and there is a need for single widow approvals. The price dynamics of cotton were also discussed and since it is contingent on factors like yarn demand, NY futures, Government policy, other fibre prices, USD/INR exchange rate, weather, global DD/SS and local DD/SS, it is quite difficult to determine it. In order to avoid and address these, the below mentioned points should be taken care of:

Avoid selling something, whose costing we don’t know

Keep a regular tab on NY Futures, MCX/NCDEX Futures, USD/INR

10

Since there are wide swings of volatility where single day volatility is higher than earlier full year volatility it is safe to limit the exposure to levels which can be sustained

Have a fibre policy which not only tackle the price volatility of the cotton and but even stabilize its price

Mr. Ajay Sardana, Astt. Vice President, Global Customers & Market Intelligence, Birla Cellulose-Pulp & Fibre Business, GRASIM Topic: Investment Opportunities in VSF

Mr. Ajay Sardana spoke about Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) and investment opportunities therein. Providing a comparative analysis, the total fibre consumption has grown at a CAGR of 2% from 2007-13 globally whereas the VSF consumption has grown at 8%, which is highest among all major staple fibres. This provides a huge opportunity for spinners to capture a greater share in this growth story. With blend and technology versatility, VSF’s applications were further discussed. VSF is widely used in textiles like trouser, knitwear, shirting and home textiles and in Nonwovens like wipes, baby diapers, household wipes, medical products and oil filters. It was stated that Gujarat is strategically one of the most viable places for Viscose in India and it provides a robust infrastructure for setting up mills for producing viscose yarn. Further, low power cost and high raw material availability also favour Gujarat for producing viscose yarn.

Mr. Vishal Chiripal, CEO, Chiripal Industries Ltd. Topic: Comparative Analysis of State Level Textile Policies

Mr. Vishal Chiripal in his address provided a comparative analysis of State Level Textile Policies. By taking into account the various textile policy parameters of both Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, a cost benefit analysis concluded that Gujarat provides a better investment option as compared to Tamil Nadu. Interest subsidy and capital subsidy by Gujarat Government is less as compared to Maharashtra. On the basis of other parameters like power tariff, stamp duty reimbursement, VAT reimbursement and Skill Development/Training, the Gujarat Textile policy is the most favourable in the country.

Concluding Remarks by Mr. V.K. Ladia, Chairperson of the Session Mr. V.K. Ladia in his concluding remarks shared his suggestions for a more holistic development of the textile industry. He mentioned that new companies are being encouraged to invest in the textile sector through the state policies, however not much has been done for the existing companies to extend their investments. Moreover, a greater part of the investments made by companies should be towards modernization. Subsidy for machine manufacturers can also be incorporated in the policy. The working conditions of the daily wage workers in the textile industry should be improved and proper housing facility needs to be provided. There should be a separate council dedicated to skill development and there should be more number of technical colleges offering education about textiles in the country. Formation of a risk capital foundation was also put forth.

11

Business Session II: Global Textile Scenario

Speakers Name Organization Designation

Mr. Mukund Choudhary

(Chairperson of the Session)

CITI Deputy Chairman

Ms. Mary-Lyn Landgraf Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), USA Senior Intl Trade Specialist

Mr. Soo-Young Yun Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI) Vice Chairman

Mr. P. Kasiviswanathan Picanol India Head of Indian Operations

Mr. P.K. Deka Reiter India Pvt. Ltd. Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Mr. Rajeev Arora African Cotton & Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF)

Executive Director

Mr. Mukund Choudhary, Deputy Chairman, CITI (Chairperson of the Session) Mr. Mukund Choudhary in his address stated that global scenario in textile production and trade has been changing rapidly in recent years. The formation of WTO in 1995 and the abolition of bilateral quotas by 2001, has brought about a key change in international trade in textile by paving way for rule based trading and removing of selective patronage approach that the Western countries had been adopting during the quota regime. Moreover, because of the labour dependency textile industry has always been successful in entering and expanding in the emerging countries.

Ms. Mary-Lynn Landgraf, Senior Intl Trade Specialist, Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), USA Topic: US Textile Industry

Ms. Mary-Lynn Landgraf

started her address by

mentioning about OTEXA,

its role and services in the

US that OTEXA develops

programs and strategies to

improve the domestic and

international

competitiveness of the U.S.

fiber, textile and apparel

industries. To support and

12

enhance trade activities in US, every year the US Commercial Service (USCS) selects up to thirty

successful trade fairs in the US for inclusion in their International Buyer Program and the USCS publicizes

these events and recruits buyer delegations from around the world.

The current scenario of the India-US partnership in Textile Sector was explained along with how the

partnership can be improved further. US-India Business Council (USIBC) supports measures that will

propel continued economic success with benefits accruing to the citizens of both the countries. It was

also emphasized that there is a great scope of partnership in technical textile between both the

countries in the form of complementary partnership among the private companies of India and the US.

Mr. Soo-Young Yun, Executive Vice Chairman, Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI) Topic: India-Korea Partnership in Textile Industry

Mr. Soo-Young Yun started

his address by giving an

introduction about KOFOTI

and India and Korea’s

bilateral trade in the textile

industry. India is one of

Korea’s FTA Partners. Korea

stands at number 8 in export

volume market share in the

world while India stands at

number 3. Out of the

cumulative FDI of USD 1.7

billion from 1962 to 2013 in

Korea’s textile industry,

India contributed during the

same period ~USD 2.2

million. It was highlighted that from 2005 till September, 2013, a total of USD 19.8 million has been

invested in India’s textile industry by Korean textile companies which accounts for 0.3% of total overseas

investment by Korean textile companies. Although the textile trade between Korea and India has

increased since the implementation of Korea-India CEPA in Jan 2010, increase in Korea’s imports (43.6%)

is far greater than the increase in exports (23%) due to low level of market openness for India’s textile

products. There is tremendous potential for cooperation between textile industries of Korea and India

as the two countries’ industry structures are complementary and it would be a good initiative for key

players of India’s textile industry to come to Korea and hold investment promotion event to attract

investment from Korean textile companies.

13

Mr. P. Kasiviswanathan, Head of India Operations, Picanol India Topic: Promising Future of Investments in Weaving Industry

After giving a brief introduction about Picanol and its milestones, Mr. P. Kasiviswanathan focussed on weaving industry in India. India’s investments in new shuttle-less weaving is increasing from the current small base, however India still lags behind China. Between 2005 and 2012, India imported an average of 2000 new airjet, 3000 rapier and 850 waterjet weaving machines. Government has been providing constant support for the growth of this industry. Various measures like interest subsidy of 5 percent for weaving preparatory machines, interest subsidy of 6 percent + capital subsidy of 15 percent for new shuttle-less weaving machines and margin money subsidy of 30 percent for new shuttle-less weaving machines were highlighted. The 12th five year plan envisages investment of USD 4 billion in weaving sector.

Mr. P.K. Deka, VP, Sales and Marketing, Reiter India Pvt. Ltd. Topic: Business Opportunities for Textile Machinery Industry

According to Mr. P.K. Deka, opportunities in the textile machinery industry are based on four important pillars:

India’s competitiveness in global market (productivity, quality and margins)

Offering machines with lowest energy consumption

Offering machines giving highest realization (better yield)

Offering machines with inbuilt automation

India’s competitiveness depends on exchange rates, total costs (wage cost, power cost, raw material cost etc.) and technology up-gradation and the other pillars are dependent on the machinery suppliers. Further, information on different products of Rieter having low energy consumption, higher yield and in built automation were shared.

Mr. Rajeev Arora, Executive Director, African Cotton & Textile Industries Federation (ACTIF) Topic: Textile Industry in Africa Mr. Rajeev Arora in his address explained about the African textile scenario vis-à-vis the global scenario. African textile industry is plagued with several challenges including: a huge gap in the intermediate sectors of the cotton value chain, high operating cost due to obsolete technology and equipment and high competition due to dumping pricing from Asia. Political insecurity and instability, poor infrastructure and poor connectivity and high costs of doing business are further stalling the progress in the region. However, there are various advantages of doing business in Africa like:

The highest return on investment , with the African GDP predicted to double in the next 10 years,

Duty free access to the regional markets, EU and US markets is available

Raw material availability, with Africa accounting for 5% of the world’s cotton production

Huge investments being undertaken to produce high quality infrastructure

14

All these factors have been responsible for changing paradigm of Africa making it one of the emerging investment destinations.

Business Session III: Technical Textiles

Speakers

Name Organization Designation

Mr. Pramod Khosla

(Chairperson of the Session)

Indian Technical Textile Association Chairman

Dr. Anup Rakshit Reliance Industries Ltd. Head, MTS and Product, Development, Polyester Sector – PSF Business

Opening Remarks by Mr. Pramod Khosla, Chairman, Indian Technical Textile Association (Chairperson of the Session) Mr. Pramod Khosla started with an introduction about ITTA (Indian Technical Textile Association). The association was established three years back and has a healthy membership of 430 companies out of which 80 are from Gujarat. It was highlighted that a lot of effort has been made to make technical textiles a part of the textile education and ITTA has signed MOUs with various institutes to popularize technical textile courses in the country. Technical textiles were further explained with their features and applications which clearly showed the potential of the sub sector.

Dr. Anup Rakshit, Head, MTS and Product Development, Polyester Sector – PSF Business, Reliance Industries Ltd. Topic: Synthetics and Technical Textiles

Dr. Anup Rakshit explained the various segments of technical textiles like agrotech, buildtech, clothtech,

geotech, hometech, indutech, medtech, mobiltech, oekotech, packtech, protech and sportech.

Packtech has the largest share (35 percent) in the Indian Textile market. The fibres and yarns used in the

process like UVS (UV resistant fibre), FR (Flame Retardant), Spunlace Fibres, PSF & PTY for Automotives,

IDY Yarns were elaborated with their features and applications. An interesting example of UVS polyester

Geo-bags used for river bank protection was shown which has advantages like resistant to rotting and

biodegradation, resistance to creep in ambient temperature, dimensionally stable and able to retain

their geometry during storage, transportation and installation, and recyclable to the environment.

Further, a similar example of fibre named FR with its product range and quality certifications was

discussed. Recron FR has inherent polyester modification whereas FR Finish has flame resistant

treatments only on fibre surface.

15

Interactive Session with Mr. Sanjay Lalbhai, CMD, Arvind Ltd. The session was

hosted by Mr. Arvind

Singhal, Chairman,

Technopak Advisors.

During the course of

this interactive

session, Mr Singhal

asked Mr. Lalbhai

several questions

related to the Indian

textile and apparel

sector. Referring to the

question, “Post the

2005 period, has the

Indian textile industry

really missed the bus,

unlike China which has seen its textile and apparel output and exports surge in the last few years?” Mr.

Sanjay Lalbhai explained that the main reasons for the slow progress of the Indian textile industry is not

being able to undertake new projects on a large scale and more importantly not having gone in for

verticalization. We are still dependent on Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam to convert our

fabrics into garments. The Indian textile companies need to scale up their existing infrastructure to

produce garments in million units. Though European buyers are willing to shift their business from

China to India, they are apprehensive of having their orders being fulfilled on time, due to lack of large

capacities in the apparel manufacturing sector. He suggested that new textile cities and textile parks can

be developed along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which will generate employment in that zone

and will also help in scaling up our production capacities. It was explained that the answer lies in

building dormitories for workers, which can help reduce labour woes, which everybody is complaining

about. If we do not think of large scale apparel factories, India will once again miss the boat. Mr. Lalbhai

also explained about the asset like model which the textile sector can adopt, where the bigger textile

companies in India can outsource their requirements to smaller and medium companies in India. Textile

remains to be one of the most favoured industries in the country with the government dolling out

several incentives for it. However, if the textile industry needs to regain its lost glory of the past, the

industry should actively look to invest in modern processes and design. While talking on how the

domestic market can stimulate, Mr. Sanjay Lalbhai explained that if we see the developed countries, the

point of inflexion comes when the per capita income crosses USD 1000 and people start spending on

their wardrobe. That point of inflexion hasn’t come in India yet. But with the per capita income

increasing and the economy doing well, the Indian domestic market is going to be a lucrative market in

the near future. Mr. Sanjay Lalbhai further encouraged the young budding entrepreneurs to take up this

sector and advised them to start with teams instead of going solo. He also emphasized that the new

16

start-ups should hire professionals in the early stages to get maximum opportunity from the sector. Mr.

Lalbhai said in order to attract talent in the textile sector, the industry needs to provide opportunities of

wealth creation which will make the industry more desirable among the youth.

Way Forward Value added products need to be exported more instead of raw cotton

Industry needs to come forward and go hand in hand with the government to enable skill development and training

Manufacturing units in the rural areas need to be established which generates rural employment

Manufacturing of man-made fibre and improving the retail base should be the focus of the entire value chain of the textile industry

Need for flexible labour policies and a framework for contract farming is necessary to empower farmers

Time bound & single window approvals is the need of the hour

Companies need to have greater part of their investments towards modernization of machinery used in spinning, weaving and ginning

Subsidy for machine manufacturers needs to be implemented

More number of technical colleges should be established offering courses on textiles at graduation and post-graduation level