Cyclical downturns lead Surat textile industry to stitch export dreams

Having struggled through several frequent cyclical downturns in the domestic market, the synthetic textile industry of Surat is now increasingly looking overseas.

The largest cluster of man-made fibre (MMF) textiles in the country, Surat was largely domestic market-focused with over 90 per cent sales. However, now the industry is looking at modernisation of different processes across the textile value chain even as it sniffs success amid reduced dependency on China among international buyers like Africa, Turkey and Europe, among others.

As an early sign of growing export potential, the industry recently held an exhibition for international buyers under the aegis