Wednesday, New Delhi, 9th March 2022: The Hon’ble Minister of State for Textiles and Railways, Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh inaugurated CITI’s Man-Made Fibre Conclave 2022 on 9th March 2022 held through virtual platform. The theme of the Conclave was US$ 450 Billion Global MMF Textiles Trade: Growth Beacon for the Indian Textile Industry. Wazir Advisors was the Knowledge Partner of the Conclave.
The Chief Guest, Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Hon’ble Minister of State for Textiles and Railways, while inaugurating CITI’s MMF Conclave 2022, appreciated the efforts of CITI for organizing such an important Conclave for the MMF Sector which is one of the priority sectors for the Government of India. The Minister stated that the India has to cover a long way to emerge as one of the leading manufacturers of MMF textile products. The Minister stressed that the growth path is not so easy, and India has to face stern competition from the established players of MMF like China, Taiwan, South Korea, etc. in terms of product quality, scale, lead times and prices. However, with increasing labour and manufacturing costs in these countries, there is an ample opportunity for India to attract global investments in the manufacturing of high value-added MMF product categories.
The Minister also stressed that the Government is looking towards the inclusive and participative development of Indian textile sector and accordingly, the Government’s central focus has recently been on increasing the textile manufacturing many-folds by developing the best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure, up-gradation of technology fostering innovation, enhancing skills and utilising traditional strengths in the MMF textile sector.
The Hon’ble Minister urged to the industry captains to take a quantum jump by heavily investing in the MMF Sector and take maximum advantage of the schemes like PLI and PM MITRA for the holistic development of this particular sector. It will not only increase India’s share in the global trade but also provide huge employment opportunities for the Indian youths.
The Secretary (Textiles) while delivering the KeyNote Address stated that the Government has realised that the growth in the textile sector can be achieved only through promoting right policies in the MMF Sector. The world is adopting China+1 policy for obvious reasons, and therefore, it is the right time for the Indian textile manufacturers to boost the trade of MMF products and increase its share in the global arena.
The Secretary (Textiles) further said that the Government is aware of the issues of the MMF Sector, however, it will only adopt the right policy measures keeping in view the interests of the larger segment. He said that the PLI and PM MITRA schemes were designed keeping in the mind the growth potential of the MMF Sector and apprised the industry that a number of states have shown interest to be a part of PM MITRA scheme for promoting growth of textile sector in their states and provide adequate employment opportunities.
He concluded by saying that good days are ahead and appealed to the industry captains to work in tandem with the Government to emerge again as the second largest exporter of T&A products in the world within the next 2-3 years.
While delivering the Welcome Address, Shri T. Rajkumar, Chairman, CITI thanked the Hon’ble Minister of State for Textiles and Railways, Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh Ji, for inaugurating CITI’s MMF Conclave 2022. He also thanked the Hon’ble Secretary (Textiles), Shri Upendra Prasad Singh, IAS, for taking out his precious time and delivering the Special Address in the Inaugural Session.
Shri Rajkumar congratulated the Hon’ble Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal for successfully signing the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). He said that the textile industry is very excited about this trade pact and is also optimistic about the ongoing trade agreements with the leading Textile & Apparel markets such as Australia, UK, EU, Canada, etc.
Chairman, CITI also thanked the Government for giving special emphasis to the MMF Sector by announcing Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme and PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme, which according to him, will be a game changer for the Indian textile industry.
Shri T. Rajkumar pointed out that the issues, such as, inverted duty structure, lack of technical know-how, huge dependence on imported machineries, etc. are acting as bottlenecks in the overall growth of the Indian MMF Sector. He urged to the Hon’ble Minister to bring the entire MMF value chain under 5% GST ambit to address the issue of inverted duty structure and also requested to announce schemes for the production and development of MMF raw-materials similar to that of natural fibres like cotton, wool, silk, jute, etc.
The eminent speakers, industry captains, moderators and subject-experts from the entire textile value chain brainstormed the Sessions on “Global Market Situation and Emerging Trends in the MMF Based Textile Industry” and “Growth Opportunities for Indian Companies in the MMF Sector”.
The 1st Session was Chaired by Shri O.P. Lohia, Chairman, Indorama Synthetic (I) Ltd. The Panelists deliberated upon the current state of affairs in the global MMF textile industry covering consumption & trade patterns and emerging market and product trends.
The 2nd Session was chaired by Ms. Roop Rashi, IA&AS, Textile Commissioner, Government of India. In this Session, the Panelists held detailed discussions on specific business opportunities for the Indian textile stakeholders in the context of changing global scenario and Government thrust on MMF Sector.
Shri Rakesh Mehra, Deputy Chairman, CITI and Chairman, Banswara Syntex Ltd. proposed the Vote of Thanks in the Inaugural Session. Shri R.K. Vij, Advisor, Indo Rama Synthetics (I) Ltd. proposed Vote of Thanks on the successful completion of CITI’s MMF Conclave 2022 and thanked the Knowledge Partner – Wazir Advisors, Sponsors, Media Persons and Delegates.
The MMF Conclave 2022 was attended by over 500 plus delegates from all over the world and was a huge success.
