From activewear to auto textiles, EU deal to reshape India's exports

Kishan Daga, founder anchor of consulting service provider Concepts N Strategies, said, “The FTA marks a pivotal moment for India’s textile and apparel sector, particularly activewear, which sits at the intersection of performance, innovation and speed.” He noted that the EU’s renewed sourcing interest comes at a critical juncture, following steep US tariffs of up to 50 per cent on select Indian textile and apparel exports.

“For many Indian manufacturers, the past year has been bruising, with order slowdowns, margin pressure and uncertainty from the US market,” Daga said, adding that Europe’s openness is both timely and confidence-boosting.

He emphasised that the FTA does not automatically hand India an advantage but restores parity with competing nations such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, which have long enjoyed duty-free or preferential access to the EU. “European buyers are not shifting sourcing to India out of sentiment. With tariffs neutralised, India can now be evaluated on capability, quality, compliance and speed on equal terms,” he said.

According to Daga, activewear has emerged as the engine of global apparel growth, with EU brands demanding technical fabrics, strong ESG credentials, faster development cycles, agile order sizes and deeper design engagement. He pointed out that India’s growing strength lies in the domestic build-up of the activewear value chain, including improving polyester raw material availability, advanced knitting and weaving capabilities, world-class processing infrastructure and diversified garmenting capacity across states.

However, he cautioned against complacency. “Being cost-competitive is no longer enough. European brands will expect India to step up design development, invest in R&D, and deliver performance-driven, trend-relevant products while matching global benchmarks on lead times and reliability,” Daga said.

Aligning with this positive sentiment, Sammir Dattani, executive director of Sanathan Textiles, said, “Progress on the India-EU FTA would materially improve cost competitiveness and access to European markets. He noted that tariffs on textile and apparel products are expected to reduce from 12 per cent to zero, opening opportunities to expand demand across multiple European countries.

“Europe is home to some of the world’s leading fashion brands and automotive manufacturers, both of which rely extensively on imported textiles,” Dattani said. He added that improved access would enable Indian manufacturers to participate more deeply not only in apparel but also in value-added technical and automotive textile applications.

With Europe importing large volumes of fashion, upholstery and technical textiles, industry stakeholders believe the FTA could help reposition India as a more strategic sourcing partner, provided manufacturers continue to invest in innovation, compliance and capacity expansion to meet the EU’s exacting standards.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (CG)