Indian Textile Industry Aims to Reach US$650 Billion by 2025

Narendra Modi, Honorable Prime Minister of India heralded the strength and capacity of the Indian textile industry at Textiles India 2017 recently in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. The event was India’s largest-ever textile industry gathering.

Speaking extemporaneously in Hindi and English the prime minister addressed a large audience in Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, providing statistics about India’s textile industry and outlining the opportunities for the sector. With the slogan, “farm to foreign,” Mr. Modi emphasized the need for increasing the exports to reach the target of US$650 billion by 2025.

Speed, scale and quality are necessities in order for Indian textiles to compete with other countries, such as China, said Mr. Modi. Innovation and research are needed to meet the demands of consumers in other countries as culture, lifestyle and fashion trends are different. He also emphasized specific areas, such as organic dyes, which need attention.

The event had more than 1,000 exhibitors and 15,000 registered buyers/delegates from many different countries. The Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, organized the three-day event.

Seshadri Ramkumar, Ph.D., is a professor in the Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University