India is one of the leading textile producers and exporters of the world. Thesize of the domestic cloth production during 2007-08 is pegged at Rs.2384billion1. The country has been a significant exporter of textilesand textile products since time immemorial. Though the export share isdeclining over the years, the aggregate export is increasing very rapidly. Theyear 2007-08 has seen an export earning of Rs.789 billion. Besides exportearnings the textile industry in India has been in the forefront in theemployment generation. The industry has several segments such as spinning,weaving and processing. The recent years have seen significant growth inhosiery and readymade garment production. These sectors are consideredemployment intensive ones. Unlike the countries like China and other advancedtextile producing nations, the Indian textile sector is largely unorganised anddispersed. Since unorganised and one of the earliest to be established, theindustry is suffering from technological obsolescence these sub-sectors ofspinning, weaving, processing, knitting or readymade garment making requireappropriate technologically viable machinery for production of yarn, fabric, orready-made garments. The industry secures the machinery from the country andalso source from abroad.
Realising the contribution of the sector to the nationaleconomy, exports and employment generation, government of India has taken several steps to boost the industrial growth. Some important steps likeTechnology Upgradation Funds Scheme (TUFS), Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks(SITP), excise and import duty liberalization of textiles and textile machineryare shots in the arm of the textile industry. These schemes have not onlyprovided much required fillip for igniting growth but also have leveraged thegrowth of textile engineering industry which includes manufacture of completemachinery, accessories and parts. Though the machinery industry is growing in areasonable speed, some of the sector specific machines still have not been ableto match the quality and productivity standards of the world-class machines.
The main objective of the paper is to delineate the presentstatus of the textile engineering industry in India and then to compare itsposition vis--vis the global exports of textile machinery. Two sections areexclusively devoted; the first on the textile engineering industry status andthe second the position of the industry in global trade.
The authorsare working as Director (Market Research) and Junior Investigator in TextilesCommittee, Government of India, Mumbai
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