During 2020-21, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow in Indian textile sector was US $ 298.67 million, which is 7.59 per cent less compared to US $ 323.52 million in 2019-20.
As per the Ministry of Textiles, in last five years (2016-17 to 2020-21), the industry got FDI of US $ 1,893.73 million. Notably, Japan has invested the maximum amount (US $ 381.47 million) as FDI in textiles sector.
During the last five years, other major investors in India were Mauritius, US $ 333.97 million; The Netherlands, US $ 284.30 million; Cyprus, US $ 222.20 million and Singapore, US $ 207.37 million.
It is worth noting that besides Mauritius, there is not even a single country which is continuously and significantly investing in India.
Textiles sector is open to FDI under automatic route. The Government claims that FDI inflows serve to augment domestic capital and help promote industrial development, thereby increasing its production capacity, export competitiveness and employment opportunities across the textiles sector.
It is important to mention here that there are no FDI-specific incentives from the Government for artisans, weavers and labourers.
One of the good examples of FDI in India’s apparel manufacturing industry is that of the Brandix Apparel Park in Visakhapatnam. In recent years, Epic Group and Youngone have also announced to invest in Jharkhand and Telangana, respectively.
