Govt to give focused attention to promote textiles' exports, says secy

The government will accord focused attention to promote India's textiles exports, which declined for the second year in a row in 2023-24, Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah said.

The government has set an ambitious target to achieve $ 100 billion export for textile products by 2030.

The cumulative exports of textiles and apparel from India during April 2023-March 2024 registered a de-growth of 3.24 per cent at $ 34.4 billion, as compared to $ 35.5 billion in April 2022-March 2023.

In 2021-22, outward shipments of textiles and apparel were recorded at over $ 41 billion.

"We had challenges like the Red Sea crisis making it slightly more challenging," Shah said on the decline in India's textiles exports in 2023-24.

Although geo-political challenges remain, the textiles secretary said some exporters have reported improvement in their order books in the first quarter and the shipments are likely to improve in the coming months.

"We will be looking at more focused attention on products which have greater export potential and the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme is focused on those globally traded products," the textiles secretary told PTI.

Shah also outlined other measures being looked at to promote exports from the sector, including "possibly looking at newer markets".

She said the free trade agreements (FTAs), which India has entered into with other nations "hopefully will open up more opportunities" for the textiles exports.

Sharing the outlook for outward shipments from the textiles sector, Shah said: "We should look at higher exports happening now. The global demand also will start looking better. Already in the first quarter we have seen some of our exporters have reported that the order positions for apparel, made-ups etc, is looking up so that should play out".

India has been losing ground in global garments trade to countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam due to their lower labour costs, larger operation footprints, and benefits from free trade agreements.