Lok Sabha Question No. 1657 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-10
Subject: Traditional Textiles Units
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: Shri Damodar Agrawal, Shri Chavda Vinod Lakhamshi, Shri Tapir Gao, Shri Anurag Sharma, Shri Chandra Prakash Joshi

## TRADITIONAL TEXTILES UNITS

1657. SHRI DAMODAR AGRAWAL: SHRI TAPIR GAO: SHRI CHAVDA VINOD LAKHAMSHI: SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI: SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

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

(a) whether the Government has formulated any strategy by benefitting from the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in the year 2022 in order to increase exports to the upcoming markets like United Arab Emirates  and  Australia,  particularly  to  benefit  production  cluster  in  Bundelkhand  region  including Jhanshi and Laliltpur;

(b) if so, the details of such strategy including product diversification, market-specific incentives, trade facilitation  measures  and  capacity-building  initiatives  for  Micro,  Small  and  Medium  Enterprises  and traditional textile units;

(c)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  in  this  regard  to  benefit  production  clusters  in  Bundelkhand regions including Jhansi and Lalitpur districts;

(d)  the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  help  the  Indian  textile  exporters  to  comply  with  the international  green  and  environmental  sustainable  standards  including  support  for  renewable  energy usage, water-efficient processing, waste management and certification costs;

(e) whether any targeted assistance, financial incentives or hand holding mechanism are being provided to small exporters and weavers in backward and aspirational districts to ensure their effective integration into global value chains under the said FTA and if so, the details thereof; and

(f) whether the Government has taken any steps to assess the impact of American Tariffs on the textile industry and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

उत्तर

## ANSWER )

## वस्त्र राज्  य मंत्री ( श्री पबित्र मार्घेररटा

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES (SHRI PABITRA MARGHERITA)

(a): The  India-Australia  Economic  Cooperation  and  Trade  Agreement  (Ind-Aus  ECTA),  where Australia eliminated its tariffs on all products, came into effect on 29th December 2022.  The India-UAE (United Arab Emirates) CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement), implemented from 1st  May  2022 provides  preferential  market  access  to  majority  of  lines. India's  textile  &  Apparel including Handicrafts exports to UAE stood at US$ 2156.24 million in 2024-25 exhibiting a growth of 6.8% compared to US$ 2019.41 million in 2023-24 and India's textile & Apparel including Handicrafts exports to Australia stood at US$ 732.06 million in 2024-25 exhibiting a growth of 10.9% compared to US$ 659.99 million in 2023-24. Bundelkhand area, including Jhansi and Lalitpur districts, has exhibited growth in global textile and apparel, including handicrafts in the said period.

(b) to (e): The Government is implementing various schemes/initiatives to boost the Indian textile and apparel sector and enhance its competitiveness from Country.  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 man made fibre (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.   The Government is also administering the two remission schemes of Rebate of  State  and  Central  Taxes  and  Levies  (RoSCTL)  for  Apparel/Garments  and  Made-ups  and  the Remissions of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) Scheme for other textiles products.

The  Ministry  has  constituted  an  Environmental,  Social  and  Governance  (ESG)  Task  Force  to engage in deliberations with industry stakeholders to ascertain the current status and issues being faced in adopting sustainable production models. The Government, under the National Handloom Development  Program  is  providing  financial  assistance  for  promotion  of  natural/vegetable  dyes  and setting  up  of  Dye  houses.  The  Government  has  launched  India  Handloom  Brand  (IHB)  initiative  for branding of high quality handloom products with zero defects and zero effect on the environment.

In  order  to  facilitate  the  textile  industry  to  meet  the  required  environmental  standards  using environmentally  friendly  processing  standards  and  technology  and  to  support  new  Common  Effluent Treatment  Plants  (CETP)/  upgradation  of  CETPs  in  existing  processing  clusters  as  well  as  new processing  parks  specially  in  the  Coastal  Zones,  the  Ministry  is  implementing  Integrated  Processing Development Scheme (IPDS) since 12th  FYP.  The  Ministry  has  further  decided  to  continue  the  said scheme with some modifications. The PIB has approved the scheme to complete ongoing projects with an outlay of Rs.275 crore.

The  Government  is  implementing  a  Mega  Cluster  Project  with  an  approximate  outlay  of  ₹20 crore  to  benefit  clusters  including  Bundelkhand  region.  The  project spans  over  all  07  districts  of Bundelkhand,  benefitting more  than  2,000  artisans. The Government  is  also  providing  targeted assistance, financial incentives, and dedicated hand-holding mechanisms to support small exporters and weavers  in  backward  and  aspirational  districts  for  their  effective  integration  into  global  value  chains under  various  free  trade  agreements  (FTAs).  For  export  promotion  of  handlooms,  participation  of handloom  exporters/  weavers  of  pan  India  including  small  exporters,  weavers  of  backward  and aspirational  district  are  facilitated  in  various  International  marketing  events/  fairs,  India  International Trade Fair  Buyer  Seller  Meet,  Reverse  Buyer  Seller  Meet,  Big  Ticket  events,  Bharat  Tex,  which  are organised through Handloom Export Promotion Council.

(f): The Ministry is monitoring India's export of Textile & Apparel including Handicrafts to United States and other countries in the world. The Ministry is in regular consultation with exporters including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to assess the impact of US tariff on India's textiles & apparel export and other challenges. During January-December 2025, India's overall exports of Textiles & Apparel (including handicrafts) to the world stood at US$ 37.6 billion, thereby exhibiting resilience by the sector amidst global challenges.