d) We may explore the feasibility of
attracting textile machinery units in Europe and other developed countries to
relocate their manufacturing plants in India. Since the textile industry has
gravitated to the East, the machinery makers in Germany, Switzerland, Italy,
Spain etc. may be interested to shift their operations nearer to the market.
e) Several manufacturing units from
abroad are either already procuring or planning to outsource manufacturing to
India in the coming years. The process can be accelerated if infrastructural
facilities, power availability and plant efficiency are enhanced to global
standards.
R&D
for Technology
In the
textile engineering sector, technology changes fast, every 5 years. The long
term solution to technology change is the strengthening and expansion of
research and development in this field.
The
Indian textile engineering industry has established a Research &
Development Centre at lIT, Powai, Mumbai which is functioning for the last 10
years. This centre has to be strengthened through support measures to make it
vibrant to trigger textile engineering technology in the quickest phase of
time.
There
are several other research organizations, R&D units and textile technology
institutes functioning in different parts of the country. These should be given
encouragement to promote innovation, design, technology and research in textile
machinery. There are a number of in-house R&D set up in many textile
machinery units. It is important that these efforts are stimulated by offering
tax breaks in the form of accelerated allowable expenses. Similarly TIFAC
Schemes should be made more attractive by offering grants, larger concessions
in interest rates and repayment terms.
India
the manufacturing hub
India
has the potential to emerge as the manufacturing hub of the world if the basic
advantages are fully exploited. The old concept of joint ventures and
collaborators may not be attractive to the foreign manufacturers. We have
therefore to think afresh and offer mergers and accusations to get the new
technology into India. This can be ensured if proper encouragement is given to
the local textile engineering units to locate and transfer technology at
affordable cost. Government should come forward with measures to support such
efforts.
Mergers
& Acquisitions
The
other alternative is for foreign direct investments to be attracted in the
textile engineering sector. At present import of machinery is of the order of
about Rs.7000 crores per year. Most of the machines manufactured abroad are
more expensive but the new technology offered by the foreign manufacturers
induces the Indian textile industry to go for the same. If foreign direct
investment can take place in the Indian economy to manufacture such machines,
the cost will be cheaper, services better and delivery will be in time. It is
therefore in our interest to offer inducements to the foreign manufacturers to
establish or shift their plants to India as a long term measure.
FDI
The
textile engineering industry expects to reach a production level of about Rs.10000
crores in a period of 5 years. This effort can be accelerated if the technology
gaps in the weaving, finishing, knitting and other sectors are met through either
mergers or acquisitions to get new technology or through foreign direct
investment.
About
the Author:
The author is the Vice Chairman of
India ITME Society.
