Can Sustainable Manufacturing Become a Competitive Advantage for Sportswear Brands?
- Arjun Gupta, Founder & CEO, KragBuzz Sports
India’s textile and apparel industry is increasingly looking at sustainability as part of the manufacturing process. The sector contributes around 2% of India’s GDP, 11% of manufacturing GVA and employs over 45 million people. At the same time, India generates around 70.73 lakh tonnes of textile waste every year, with more than 70% being recovered through recycling, reuse and upcycling. For sportswear brands, this is becoming more relevant as jerseys, T-shirts, track pants and activewear have moved beyond sports and into everyday wear. As demand grows, manufacturers also need to look at how they use materials and manage waste. The real question is whether sustainable manufacturing can also become a competitive advantage for sportswear brands.
Sustainability Has to Start Inside the Factory
For a long time, sustainability in fashion was mostly discussed around the final product - recycled fabrics, eco-friendly packaging or sustainable labels. But the real change has to start much earlier.
It is about how fabric is sourced, how much material is wasted during cutting, how production is planned, how energy is used and what happens to unused or rejected material.
This becomes even more important in sportswear because customisation is a major part of the business. Manufacturers often work with a variety of designs, colors, sizes, and team requirements. When production is not planned properly, it can result in excess fabric, unused inventory and unnecessary waste.
Better planning and technology can help address these challenges.
Less Waste Can Mean Better Business, Too
Sustainability is often considered as a cost adder for manufacturing. But better resource management can also improve efficiency.
Precision when cutting the fabric helps to decrease the amount of waste. Digital design can get rid of the need for unnecessary samples, better inventory planning can avoid overproduction, and efficient machinery can assist in controlling energy use.
These may appear to be small changes, but at a larger production scale, they can make a significant difference.
India’s textile industry is already moving in this direction. IBEF further adds that about 95% of pre-consumer textile waste is recycled and India’s textile recycling market is projected to reach around US$3.5 billion by 2030.
This provides manufacturers with an opportunity to view waste in a different light – not simply as an environmental problem, but as a resource that can be utilized more effectively.
Customers Are Asking Different Questions
The sportswear customer is also changing. Buyers increasingly want to know where products are made, what materials are being used and how responsibly a brand operates.
This matters even more when dealing with sports academies, professional teams, schools, institutions and corporate organisations that place bulk or repeat orders.
For these customers, sustainability can become part of the buying decision along with price, quality, delivery time and customisation.
A brand that can offer quality products, customisation, reliable delivery and responsible manufacturing has a stronger proposition than one competing only on price.
India Has an Opportunity to Build Further
India already has a strong textile and apparel manufacturing base. The country is the sixth-largest exporter of textiles and apparel globally, while the sector produces around 22 billion garments annually, according to IBEF.
The next opportunity is to move further up the value chain.
For sportswear makers this could mean investing in better production technology, better waste management, looking into recycled and responsibly sourced materials and using renewable energy where practical.
But technology alone will not be enough. People are equally important. Workers and production teams need training in quality control, material utilisation, production planning and efficient manufacturing practices.
For Indian sportswear companies, this combination of technology, skilled people and better processes can help build manufacturing systems that are both efficient and responsible.
Sustainability Can Become a Business Advantage
The biggest mistake would be to treat sustainability only as a marketing message.
Customers will increasingly look beyond terms such as “eco-friendly” and ask a simple question: What is actually happening inside the factory?
For sportswear brands, the answer could become an important competitive advantage.
The goal should be to bring together quality, speed, customisation and responsible production. Sustainability should not mean that a business has to compromise on any of these. When planned properly, it can reduce waste, improve efficiency and help businesses use resources more carefully.
India already has the manufacturing base, workforce and growing market required to build this next phase. The opportunity now is to make sustainability part of everyday production - from design and fabric sourcing to cutting, manufacturing, quality checks and dispatch.
For sportswear brands, the strongest sustainability story may not be the one with the biggest claim on the label. It may be the one where better planning, less waste and smarter manufacturing are simply part of how the business operates.