Piyush Goyal wants 10x jump in textiles sector capacity

July 21, 2021

Category: General

Country: India

Sidhartha / TNN / Jul 19, 2021, 12:58 IST

NEW DELHI: Piyush Goyal, the new textiles minister, has set an ambitious target of scaling up the industry’s capacity by 10 times, amid indications that the government is planning more steps to boost investment and employment in the sector.

While Goyal has not given a timeframe, he wants the team of officers in the ministry to prepare a detailed action plan for each segment — ranging from fibres and garments to handloom and handicraft — along with the deadline, a source present in last week’s deliberations told TOI. Manmade fibre along with technical textiles and handloom have been identified as key thrust areas.

Currently, the size of the textiles industry is estimated at around $140 billion (over Rs 10 lakh crore), with apparel accounting for over half the share (see graphic). Textiles’ share in India’s GDP is estimated at around 2.3% and is the largest employer, employing about 45 million workers.

With around a quarter of the produce, getting exported, the government is hoping that a series of steps, including the extension of and Central Taxes & Levies (RoSCTL) will provide clarity to exporters when they negotiate contracts.

Similarly, integrated textiles parks are seen to be another thrust area, with the proposed free trade agreements with the UK and the expected to provide further fillip to Indian exporters. With lower duties in these crucial markets, the textiles industry is hoping to compete more favourably with rivals such as Bangladesh, which enjoy wage and tariff advantages.

Steps such as loans for startups to buy cottonplucking machines for renting to farmers are proposed in a bid to create jobs and income for small entrepreneurs, said an officer.

Goyal is hoping to replicate the strategy adopted by him in his earlier assignments, such as a massive bulbs scheme and steps to scale up renewable energy space and coal production. By insisting on increasing the size of the pie, he is hoping to get more investments and create more jobs.

At the same time, the minister has asked his team to focus on improving the quality of handloom and handicrafts and standardising it, given that there is a vast potential in a growing market such as India, apart from the exports market.

Courtesy: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/piyush-goyal-wants-10x-jump-in-textiles-sector-capacity/articleshow/84545341.cms