Garment-Led Investments Poised to Drive Indian Textile Industry’s Growth
FICCI's TAG Conference Report
State working towards establishing Six Technical Textile Parks to make Maharashtra a hub for Technical Textiles: Textiles Minister, Govt of Maharashtra
Mr Sanjay Savkare, Minister of Textiles, Government of Maharashtra, today released the annual FICCI–Wazir Advisors Textile industry report ‘Catalysing Textile & Apparel Growth: Leveraging Global Opportunities’ during TAG 2025 Annual Textile Conference organised by FICCI. Mr Savkare said that the Maharashtra Government, through its policy measures, is focusing on attracting domestic and foreign investment and providing support on skilling, R&D and infrastructure development to build a globally competitive textile & apparel industry in Maharashtra. He informed that the state is working towards establishing Six Technical Textile Parks, one in each of the revenue divisions, to make Maharashtra a hub for Technical Textiles. He further added that the state has set up a task force to seek suggestions from the stakeholders to enhance the export competitiveness of Maharashtra, and support to the Textile Industry will be extended as per the suggestions of the Task Force. Ms Anshu Sinha, Principal Secretary (Textile), Government of Maharashtra, stressed the need for collaboration and collective efforts of Industry, Academia and Government to further strengthen Maharashtra’s position as a leading manufacturing hub for the Textile Industry and sought support of the industry in the areas of Skilling, R&D and Sustainable practices. Mr Prashant Agarwal, Joint MD, Wazir Advisors, shared a brief overview of FICCI – Wazir Advisors Report, which takes stock of the global and Indian textile & apparel (T&A) landscape in a year marked by geopolitical uncertainty, shifting trade flows, rapid advances in sustainability and innovation, and the challenges arising from the US reciprocal tariff scenario. The report also talks about what strategies India can adopt to fully realise its potential and position itself as a leading global hub. The report states that the Global textile & apparel trade reached ~ US$893 billion in 2024, reflecting 5% growth over the previous year, with China retaining one-third share. The global apparel market, now at US$1.8 trillion, is projected to touch US$2.3 trillion by 2030. India, with a US$184 billion domestic T&A market and US$37 billion in exports (FY25), continues to hold strong fundamentals but faces challenges from newly imposed US tariffs of 50%, compared to lower rates for competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam. The report identifies garmenting investments as the central lever for India’s next phase of growth, supported by FDI inflows, global alliances, and government schemes like PLI and PM MITRA Parks. It highlights how forward integration into apparel manufacturing can enhance value addition, create large-scale employment, and improve India’s competitiveness as an end-to-end sourcing hub. The study emphasises innovation and sustainability as twin imperatives—ranging from smart textiles, eco-friendly materials, and digitalised supply chains to scalable adoption of green manufacturing practices. It further underlines India’s factor cost advantages over peers, while cautioning that weak R&D and lack of FTAs with key markets remain bottlenecks. The way forward, according to the whitepaper, rests on market diversification beyond the US, policy stability, infrastructure development, R&D and skilling, and embedding sustainability across the value chain. By combining investment-led growth with innovation and global partnerships, India can not only withstand tariff headwinds but also position itself as a leading global sourcing destination by 2030.
Figure 1: L to R: Mr Deepak Mukhi, Director, FICCI MSC, Mr Dinesh Joshi, Co-Chair, FICCI MSC, Shri Sanjay Savkare, Hon'ble Minister of Textile, Govt. of Maharashtra, Smt Anshu Sinha, Principal Secretary (Textile), Govt. of Maharashtra, Mr Prashant Agarwal, Jt. MD, Wazir Advisors
There were three session after the inagural, the first session was on Investment in End Use Product as the Key Engine for Growth supported by FTAs were key discussion points made on the role of garmenting as the anchor for T&A value chain development, Opportunities in technical textiles & home textiles through product innovation, R&D support, and development of specialized manufacturing ecosystems, Capital requirements and role of automation and digitalization outlook for large-scale apparel clusters, Policy levers and infrastructure enablers to attract private investment, Strategies to compete with global competitors such as China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc. through infrastructure development, skill enhancement and labour retention, How FTAs can enhance the investment case for backward integration and Developing strategies for workforce retention. The session Moderator was Mr Prashant Agarwal, Joint Managing Director, Wazir Advisors and the panellists were Mr R.K. Mishra, Additional DGFT, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Mr Shaleen Toshniwal, Managing Director, Banswara Syntex Ltd, Mr Kapil Pathare, Joint Managing Director, VIP Clothing, and Mr Jyoti Prakash Mohapatra, Joint President- Marketing & Business Development, Grasim Industries Ltd.
Figure 2: L to R: Jyoti Prakash Mohapatra, Joint President- Marketing & Business Development, Grasim Industries Ltd, Prashant Agarwal, Jt. MD, Wazir Advisors, R.K. Mishra, Additional DGFT, Directorate General of Foreign Trade, Shaleen Toshniwal, MD, Banswara Syntex, Kapil Pathare, Jt. M D, VIP Clorhing
The next session was on Broadening the Investment Lens: FDI, Expansions & Strategic Alliances for T&A Growth in which deliberations made on Greenfield Investments: Assessing India’s attractiveness for end-to-end manufacturing setups, Brownfield Expansions: Understanding investment outlook among domestic players scaling for exports, FDI: Strategic entry points for global players across synthetic, technical, and sustainable textiles, Joint Ventures & Strategic Partnerships: Initiatives enabling global partnerships and related challenges, Policy Enablers: P M Mitra parks, PLI schemes, and FTA-aligned incentives to boost investor confidence. The Session moderator was Dr G V Aras, Strategic Advisor and Independent Director and the panellists were Mr Narendra Dalmia, CEO, Strata Geosystems (India) Pvt Ltd, Mr Birendranath Bandyopadhyay, Executive Director, Orbit Exports, Mr Kushal Motiani, Head – Business Development & Marketing, Brandix Apparel India Pvt Ltd, Mr Navin Agrawal, Sr. Vice President, A.T.E. Enterprises Pvt Ltd.
Figure 3: L to R: Mr Kushal Motiani, Head – BD & Marketing, Brandix Apparel India, Mr Narendra Dalmia, CEO, Strata Geosystems (India) Pvt Ltd, Dr G V Aras, Strategic Advisor and Independent Director, Mr Birendranath Bandyopadhyay, Executive Director, Orbit Exports, Mr Navin Agrawal, Sr. Vice President, A.T.E. Enterprises Pvt Ltd
The final session was on Global Sourcing: Driving Innovation and Sustainability and the deliberations were made on how ESG regulations are shaping export opportunities and acting as trade requirements, how FTAs are including sustainability conditions and what it means for India, the growing need for certifications, audits, and traceability in supply chains, what changes factories must make towards sustainability and innovation to retain global buyers and stay competitive. The session moderator was Mr Avinash Mayekar, Managing Director, Suvin Expo LLP and the panellists were Mr Shyamlal Patnaik, Jt. President & Global Business Head - Specialty Business, Grasim Industries Ltd, Mr V R Sai Ganesh, COO – Textiles, Zydex Industries Pvt Ltd, Mr R Sabhari Girish, Chief Sustainability Officer, Sulochana Cotton Spinning Mills P Ltd, Mr Amit Mittal, Managing Director, MADASKY Consulting Pvt. Ltd, Mr Sudipto Mandal, Regional Sales Director, Oerlikon Textile India Pvt Ltd.
Figure 4: L to R: Mr Amit Mittal, Managing Director, MADASKY Consulting, Mr V R Sai Ganesh, COO – Textiles, Zydex Industries Pvt Ltd, Mr Avinash Mayekar, Managing Director, Suvin Expo LLP, Mr Shyamlal Patnaik, Jt. President & Global Business Head - Specialty Business, Grasim Industries Ltd, Mr R Sabhari Girish, Chief Sustainability Officer, Sulochana Cotton Spinning Mills, Mr Sudipto Mandal, Regional Sales Director, Oerlikon Textile India Pvt Ltd.