Lok Sabha Question No. 2873 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-18
Subject: Improving Textile Exports
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Smt. Rachna Banerjee

## IMPROVING TEXTILE EXPORTS

## 2873. SMT. RACHNA BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री be pleased to state :

(a) the specific steps taken by the Government to address the decline in the competitiveness of India's textile industry especially in terms of global market share;

(b) the manner in which the Government is working with textile manufactures to overcome issues related to rising raw material costs especially for cotton and the volatility in the global market;

(c) the strategies that are being put in place to improve India's textile exports especially in light of the ongoing trade barriers and competition from countries like China and Bangladesh;

(d) the manner in which the Government facilitating innovation in the textile sector particularly in areas like textile waste recycling, bio-based fibers and sustainable garment production; and

(e) the plans that are in place to strengthen the domestic market for textile products especially in light of challenges posed by cheaper imports and changing consumer preferences?

## उत्तर

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES

## ANSWER वस्त्र राज्  य मंत्री ( श्री पबित्र मार्घेररटा ) (SHRI PABITRA MARGHERITA)

(a): India is ranked among the top textile exporting countries in the world with a share of approx. 4% of  global  textiles  and  apparel  exports.  The  export  of  Textile  &  Apparel  including  Handicrafts  has increased by 7% in April-December 2024 with respect to same period previous year.  Major textile and apparel export destinations for India are USA, EU and UK with around 53% share in total textile and apparel exports in FY 2023-24.

The  Government  is  implementing  various  schemes/initiatives  to  promote  Indian  textiles.  The  major schemes/initiatives  include  PM  Mega  Integrated  Textile  Regions  and  Apparel  (PM  MITRA)  Parks Scheme to create a modern, integrated, world class textile infrastructure; Production Linked Incentive (PLI)  Scheme  focusing  on  MMF  Fabric,  MMF  Apparel  and  Technical  Textiles  to  boost  large  scale manufacturing  and  enhancing  competitiveness;  National  Technical  Textiles  Mission  focusing  on Research Innovation & Development, Promotion and Market Development; SAMARTH - Scheme for Capacity  Building  in  Textile  Sector  with  the  objective  providing  demand  driven,  placement  oriented, skilling program; Silk Samagra-2 for comprehensive development of sericulture value chain; National Handloom Development Program for end to end support for handloom sector. Ministry of Textiles is also  implementing  National  Handicrafts  Development  Programme  and  Comprehensive  Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme for promotion of handicrafts.

(b): The Indian textiles industry is one of the largest in the world with a large raw material base of natural  fibre  including  cotton,  silk,  wool,  jute  as  well  as  manmade  fibre  and  manufacturing  strength across the value chain from fibre to fabric to garments.

With  a  view  to  ensure  a  consistent  supply  of  cotton  in  the  country  and  have  a  sustained  interest  of farmers in cotton cultivation, Government of India is declaring Minimum Support Price (MSP) of cotton every year. This mechanism ensures that farmers receive a fair remunerative price for their produce in the event market prices of cotton falls below the MSP rates and also facilitates the availability of cotton at competitive prices.

With  effect  from  20th  February  2024,  the  custom  duty  on  Extra-Long  Staple  (ELS)  Cotton  has  been reduced  to  NIL.  Under  the  India-Australia  ECTA,  51,000  tonnes  of  duty  free  ELS  Cotton  can  be imported since Dec 29, 2022.

(c): In  order  to  increase  the  export  potential,  India  has  so  far  signed  14  Free  Trade  Agreements (FTAs) including recently concluded agreement with UAE, Australia and TEPA with EFTA countries comprising Switzerland, Iceland, Norway & Liechtenstein; and 6 Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with various trading partners.

The Government is also implementing Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme for Apparel/Garments and Made-ups in order to enhance competitiveness by adopting principle of zero rated  exports.  Further,  textiles  products  not  covered  under  the  RoSCTL  scheme  are  covered  under Remissions of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) along with other products. In addition, Government provides financial support to various Export Promotion Councils and Trade Bodies under Market  Access  Initiative  Scheme  implemented  by  Department  of  Commerce  for  organising  and participating in trade fairs, exhibitions, buyer-seller meets etc at national and international levels to boost export.

(d): With a view to boost technical textiles sector in the country, National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) was launched for a period  from  2020-21  to  2025-26.  The  mission  focusses  on  fundamental research in thrust areas of speciality fibre like Carbon Fibre, Aramid Fibre, Nylon Fibre, and Composites &  application-based  research  in  geotextiles,  agro-textiles,  medical  textiles,  mobile  textiles  and  sports textiles and development of biodegradable technical textiles. For research in sustainable & biodegradable technical textiles, projects have been approved for research in non-conventional natural fibres like, Milk Weed, Bamboo Fibre, etc.

As far as innovation in textiles sector is concerned, Ministry of Textiles has conducted an Innovation Challenges in collaboration with Startup India & DPIIT. In this challenge, 9 winners were recognised and awarded and Incubation opportunity to 6 awardees were given through this Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). Apart from this, 3 separate innovations challenges were conducted by nature fibre boards on their respective problem statements i.e.

- NJB  Technological  Innovation  Grand  Challenge  in  which  3  winners  were  recognised  and awarded out of 125 applicants.
- CSB  Start-up  Grand  Challenge  in  which  4  winners  were  recognised  and  awarded  out  of 58 applicants.
- CWDB Wool Innovation  Challenge  in  which  3  winners  were  recognised  and  awarded  out  of 24 applicants.

17 of the above-mentioned winners are directly engage activities such as textile waste recycling, biobased fibres or sustainable garment production.

(e): The Government is regularly monitoring exports and imports and engaging with the industry in this regard. The Government has imposed Minimum Import Price of USD 3.50 per kg on Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) codes under the heading 6,006, in order to control import of low rate and low-quality knitted fabrics. In the budget announcement, custom duty was revised on HSN under heading 6,006.  Various  QCOs have been imposed to curb imports of low-quality non-standard goods which allows protection to domestic producers.