Indian Ministry of Textiles: Year-end review 2024

The industry contributes nearly 2 per cent to the country's GDP, 10 per cent to industrial production, and 8.21 per cent to India's overall exports. In terms of global trade, India is the sixth largest exporter of textiles, with a 3.91 per cent share in world textile exports. The domestic textile and apparel production is approximately $175.7 billion. Exports accounted for $35.87 billion to the sector (2023-24).

The textile sector is highly labour-intensive. Overall, the sector provides direct employment to over 45 million people, including many women and the rural population. This makes it the second largest employment generator in the country, next only to agriculture. The sector also aligns perfectly with the government's overall objectives of Make in India, Skill India, Women's Empowerment, Rural Youth Employment, and inclusive growth.

Cotton sector

During the calendar year 2024, the average prices of cotton are hovering at MSP level due to subdued market conditions. To support cotton farmers, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) commenced MSP procurement operations from October 2024 and has already procured around 42.11 lakh bales, valuing ₹16,215 crore under MSP Operations up to 22.12.2024. India holds the first position globally in cotton production. CCI has greatly supported the cotton farmers, and with the above procurement under MSP operations, about 7.75 lakh cotton farmers in all cotton-growing states have benefited. CCI has taken the following initiatives for the benefits of the cotton and textile sector:

Branding of cotton: Kasturi Cotton India

Kasturi Cotton India's brand has been registered as a trademark to give a unique identity to premium quality Indian cotton. Further, the traceability of Kasturi Cotton would promote responsible sourcing and offer supply chain visibility of Indian cotton to international brands. A separate HSN code for ELS Cotton has also been introduced.

Kasturi Cotton Bharat programme of the Ministry of Textiles is a pioneering effort in traceability, certification, and branding of Indian cotton. This initiative, a collaboration between the Government of India, trade bodies, and the industry, was formalised with a budgetary support of ₹30 crore (~$34,97,877), including ₹15 crore from Trade & Industry Bodies through a MoU signed on 15.12.2022 between CCI on behalf of the Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles, and TEXPROCIL.

Wool sector

For the holistic growth of the Wool Sector, the Ministry of Textiles has formulated a new integrated programme, i.e., the Integrated Wool Development Programme (IWDP), for implementation during the period of the 15th Finance Commission, i.e., from FY 2021-22 to 2025-26, with a total financial allocation of ₹126 crore through approval of its SFC meeting held on June 15, 2021. The IWDP scheme of the Ministry of Textiles is a Central Sector Scheme for the Development of the Wool Sector. Further, the Guidelines of IWDP have been approved by the Ministry and appointed the Central Wool Development Board, Ministry of Textiles as the nodal agency for implementation of this scheme in all major wool-producing states.

Silk sector

The annual raw silk production has increased to 38,913 MT during 2023-24 from 26,480 MT in 2013-14. Raw silk production in NE states increased to 7,670 MT in 2023-24 from 4,601 MT in 2013-14. The production of 3A-4A grade import substitute bivoltine raw silk has increased to 9,675 MT (2023-24) from 2,559 MT (2013-14). The total production under Silk is in the second position globally. International grade quality silk production through ARM increased from 25 per cent to 35 per cent. Raw silk yield per hectare has increased to 110 kg during 2023-24 as compared to 95.93 kg during 2013-14. Estimated employment generation increased to 94.80 lakh persons during 2023-24 from 78.50 lakh persons during 2013-14.

Handloom sector

As per the Handloom Census 2019-20, there are 35.22 lakh handloom workers across the country, out of which more than 72 per cent are women. Assistance worth ₹46.44 crore was released for 51 clusters covering 12,001 beneficiaries under the Small Cluster Development Program (SCDP). Assistance worth ₹17.55 crore was released for 133 marketing events. About 4,818 beneficiaries have been provided loans under the MUDRA Scheme, and 34,240 beneficiaries enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. A total of 203.778 lakh kg of yarn was supplied under the Transport Subsidy & Price Subsidy under the Raw Material Supply Scheme. The soft launch of the E-Commerce portal viz. indiahandmade.com on 22.04.2023 featured approximately 1,000 products and 556 sellers. As of 05.12.2024, the number of products uploaded is 9,453 with 1,722 sellers.

PM MITRA

The Government has approved setting up of 7 (Seven) PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks in Greenfield/Brownfield sites with world-class infrastructure including plug and play facility with an outlay of ₹4,445 crore for a period of seven years up to 2027-28. The Government has finalised 7 sites viz. Tamil Nadu (Virudhnagar), Telangana (Warangal), Gujarat (Navsari), Karnataka (Kalaburagi), Madhya Pradesh (Dhar), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow), and Maharashtra (Amravati) for setting up PM MITRA Parks. So far, investment MoUs with expected investment potential of over ₹18,500 crore have been signed.

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Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)