Textile Industry & Market Growth in India

Introduction

India’s textiles sector is one of the oldest industries in the Indian economy dating back several centuries. India's overall textile exports during FY 2017-18 stood at US$ 39.2 billion in FY18 and is expected to increase to US$ 82.00 billion by 2021 from US$ 31.65 billion in FY19*.

The Indian textiles industry is extremely varied, with the hand-spun and hand-woven textiles sectors at one end of the spectrum, while the capital intensive sophisticated mills sector at the other end of the spectrum. The decentralized power looms/ hosiery and knitting sector forms the largest component of the textiles sector. The close linkage of the textile industry to agriculture (for raw materials such as cotton) and the ancient culture and traditions of the country in terms of textiles make the Indian textiles sector unique in comparison to the industries of other countries. The Indian textile industry has the capacity to produce a wide variety of products suitable to different market segments, both within India and across the world.

Market Size

The Indian textiles industry, currently estimated at around US$ 150 billion, is expected to reach US$ 250 billion by 2019. India’s textiles industry contributed seven percent of the industry output (in value terms) of India in 2017-18. It contributed two percent to the GDP of India and employs more than 45 million people in 2017-18. The sector contributed 15 percent to the export earnings of India in 2017-18.

The production of raw cotton in India is estimated to have reached 36.1 million bales in FY19^.

Investment

The textiles sector has witnessed a spurt in investment during the last five years. The industry (including dyed and printed) attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth US$ 3.09 billion from April 2000 to December 2018.

Some of the major investments in the Indian textiles industry are as follows:

• In May 2018, the textiles sector recorded investments worth Rs 27,000 crore (US$ 4.19 billion) since June 2017.
• The Government of India announced a Special Package to boost exports by US$ 31 billion, create one crore job opportunities and attract investments worth Rs 800.00 billion (US$ 11.93 billion) during 2018-2020. As of August 2018, it generated additional investments worth Rs 253.45 billion (US$ 3.78 billion) and exports worth Rs 57.28 billion (US$ 854.42 million).

Government Initiatives

The Indian government has come up with a number of export promotion policies for the textiles sector. It has also allowed 100 percent FDI in the Indian textiles sector under the automatic route.

Initiatives taken by the Government of India are:

• The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has revised rates for incentives under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) for two subsectors of Textiles Industry - Readymade garments and Made ups - from 2 percent to 4 percent.
• As of August 2018, the Government of India has increased the basic customs duty to 20 percent from 10 percent on 501 textile products, to boost Make in India and indigenous production.
• The Government of India announced a Special Package to boost exports by US$ 31 billion, create one crore job opportunity and attract investments worth Rs 80,000 crore (US$ 11.93 billion) during 2018-2020. As of August 2018, it generated additional investments worth Rs 25,345 crore (US$ 3.78 billion) and exports worth Rs 57.28 billion (US$ 854.42 million).
• The Government of India has taken several measures including Amended Technology Up- gradation Fund Scheme (A-TUFS), the scheme is estimated to create employment for 35 lakh people and enable investments worth Rs 95,000 crore (US$ 14.17 billion) by 2022.
• Integrated Wool Development Programme (IWDP) approved by Government of India to provide support to the wool sector starting from wool rearer to end consumer which aims to enhance the quality and increase the production during 2017-18 and 2019-20.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), Government of India has approved a new skill development scheme named 'Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS)' with an outlay of Rs 1,300 crore (US$ 202.9 million) from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

Achievements

Following are the achievements of the government in the past four years:

• I-ATUFS, a web-based claims monitoring and tracking mechanism was launched on April 21, 2016.
• 381 new block-level clusters were sanctioned.
• 20 new textile parks were sanctioned
• Employment increased to 8.62 million in FY18 from 8.03 in FY15.

Road Ahead

The future for the Indian textile industry looks promising, buoyed by both strong domestic consumption as well as export demand. With consumerism and disposable income on the rise, the retail sector has experienced rapid growth in the past decade with the entry of several international players like Marks & Spencer, Guess and Next into the Indian market.

High economic growth has resulted in higher disposable income. This has led to a rise in demand for products creating a huge domestic market.

Exchange Rate Used: INR 1 = US$ 0.0139 as of Q3 FY19.

References: Ministry of Textiles, Indian Textile Journal, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Press Information Bureau

Note: * till January 2019, ^ - during the cotton season October–September

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.

Home Textiles

Seen as a mightily expanding and changing sector in the global textile industry, the presence of technical textiles is not merely confined to industrial applications and is becoming a ubiquitous phenomenon in our day to day activities as well. 

The new promise of technical textiles is generation of products (by combining the latest developments in advanced flexible materials with advances in process technologies) that eventually have a direct impact upon all sorts of consumer textile markets, including both clothing and furnishings. These are called “HOMETECH”.

One of the largest technical textile markets, this sector comprises household textiles, furnishings (used in contract applications) and upholstered furniture industry (including fiberfill and wadding applications in bedding, cushions, sleeping bags and furniture backings).

Some of the highly useful applications of HOMETECH include:

• Woven & knit wipes (cleaning wipes for domestic applications)
• Nonwoven wipes (floor mops)
• Tickings (for filled products like pillows, duvets, cushions)
• Mattress components (Flanging and quilt backing, spring wrap)
• Spring insulators Flat fabrics ( used to cover springs in beds or upholstery)
• Platform cloth (fabrics used as a base for cushions on upholstered furniture)
• Dust cloths Fabrics attached to base of furniture
• Skirt linings and other fabrics for use in upholstered furniture, bedding etc
• Carpet backings (used as primary as well as secondary backing for tufted carpets)
• Sewing threads used in all furnishing, household textile applications

Clothing Textiles

Touching our lives in almost all the spheres, technical textiles have also made their foray in the clothing and shoe industry. Aimed at fashion designers, developers as well as shoe and clothing manufacturers, this category of smart textiles is clubbed under the head “CLOTHTECH”

Broadly defined, CLOTHTECH includes technical components of clothing (such as breathable membranes), shoe reinforcement & construction as well as rainwear. They are recognized for some of their important properties like high resistance to temperature, pressure and other extreme conditions, high absorbency, durability and water proof nature.

From industries like sports, defense and aviation to chemical and fire fighting, they are making their presence almost across all segments as they are extensively used for making special purpose clothes and footwear.

A look at some of the application areas:

• In shoe components like shoe laces
• For insulation and structures like interlinings (woven as well as non woven, waddings etc)
• Sewing products like sewing threads, labels, fasteners (zips, Velcro)

What is textile designer?

Textile design is essentially the process of creating designs for woven, knitted or printed fabrics or surface ornamented fabrics. Textile designers are involved with the production of these designs, which are used, sometimes repetitively, in clothing and interior decor items.
The field encompasses the actual pattern making while supervising the production process. In other words, textile design is a process from the raw material into finished product. Fiber, yarn and finishes are the key elements to be considered during the textile design procedure.

Overview

Textile designing is a creative field that includes fashion design, carpet manufacturing and any other cloth-related field.Textile design fulfills a variety of purposes in our lives. For example, our clothing, carpets, drapes, towels, and rugs are all a result of textile design.
These examples illustrate the significance of textiles in our daily lives. The creations of textiles are not only important for their use, but also for the role they play in the fashion industry. Textile designers have the ability to inspire collections, trends, and styles. The textile industry, while being a creative art form, is a very business savvy industry.
Textile designers marry a creative vision of what a finished textile will look like with a deep understanding of the technical aspects of production and the properties of fiber, yarn, and dyes.
The creative process often begins with different art mediums to map concepts for the finished product. Traditionally, drawings of woven textile patterns were translated onto special forms of graph paper called point papers, which were used by the weavers in setting up their looms^.
Today, most professional textile designers use some form of computer-aided design software created expressly for this purpose.Some of the latest advances in textile printing have been in the area of digital printing. The process is similar to the computer controlled paper printers used for office applications. In addition, heat-transfer printing is another popular printing method to be used in the textile design. Patterns are often designed in repeat to maintain a balanced design even when fabric is made into yardage. Repeat size is the distance directly across or down from any motif in a design to the next place that same motif occurs. The size of the repeat is determined by the production method. For example, printed repeat patterns must fit within particular screen sizes while woven repeat patterns must fit within certain loom sizes. There are several different types of layouts for repeated patterns. Some of the most common repeats are straight and half drop. Often, the same design is produced in many different colored versions, which are called colorways. Once a pattern is complete, the design process shifts to choosing the proper fabrics to get the design printed on or woven into the fabric
Designers might want to use the method of dyeing or printing to create their design. There are many printing methods.

• Direct (Blotch) Printing
• Overprinting
• Discharge Printing
• Resist Printing
• Block Printing
• Roller Printing
• Screen Printing

So, what exactly does a textile designer do? Picture yourself working for a company that makes special novelty socks. They want their socks to sell better than anybody else's so they hire a textile designer (you) to make their socks the best. Not all textile designers get to choose the materials they work with, but this sock company has the time and money to invest in the best product possible, so they give their textile designers a lot of power. One of your first steps is to pick the materials used to create these socks. Socks need to be soft, thick enough for cushioning, lightweight enough for comfort, strong enough for prolonged use, and absorbent. So, you choose to avoid a fragile material like linen or a course material like hemp. Cotton is a good option, as are synthetic fabrics like polyester.
Textile designers that have control over this part of the process have a lot of decisions to make. Besides just picking the fabrics, they may also need to consider what fiber types, yarn sizes, or kinds of dyes will be used, as well as how those dyes will be applied. Are you going to print the design by hand or with a machine? Should the fabrics be bleached or left natural? Are any parts of the design going to be embroidered or sewn? There's a lot to think about.