Textile Commissioner Roop Rashi visited a stall at the Global Textile Technology and Engineering Show in Mumbai on February 21, 2025
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Investments in the textile sector that were sluggish for the last couple of years have revived, said Textile Commissioner Roop Rashi here on Friday.
Ms. Rashi told The Hindu on the sidelines of the inauguration of the three-day Global Textile Technology and Engineering Show (GTTES) here, several textile and apparel companies that had taken part in the recently-concluded Bharat Tex in New Delhi said they were making investments.
Indian textile machinery manufacturers should leverage the strengths in textile engineering and indigenise textile machinery for all segments of the supply chain. “We should have sustainable, circular textiles,” she said.
On cotton production during the cotton season 2024-2025, she said it was estimated that there will be almost 29 lakh bales of surplus cotton this season. So, the textile sector is not likely to face shortage of cotton, she said.
Ketan Sanghvi, chairman of the India ITME Society, said the GTTES, which has 210 participants from India and other countries, focused on post-spinning segments, including weaving preparation, weaving, printing, processing, and technical textiles. “A lot of investments are happening in technical textiles and the demand is also high for upgraded technology in weaving machines. The ecosystem for the weaving sector should improve to be on pare with the spinning segment. There should be more manufacturers for motors and drives,” he said.
Mr. Sanghvi also said the government recently approved duty-free import of shuttleless looms with a few conditions. While it gave thrust to indigenisation and foreign direct investments in India, permitting duty free imports is unlikely to incentivise local manufacturing, he said.
(The writer is in Mumbai at the invitation of India ITME Society)
Published – February 21, 2025 07:48 pm IST
