A great leap forward

The kick-off: Setting the tempo

The Prime Minister marked the trajectory that the event and its eventual outcome would take on June 30 when he called upon foreign delegates to "come, invest and make textiles in India." The call was straight and upfront as that.

Modi pointed out to the gathering of honchos, experts and visitors, "The textiles industry has a pivotal position in the Indian economy. It is strong and competitive across the value chain. India has an abundant supply of raw material, like cotton, wool, silk, jute, and man-made fibres. In fact, it is the world's largest producer of cotton and jute, and second largest producer of silk and man-made fibres. This provides us the distinct advantage of backward integration, which many other countries may not have. In addition, India has strong spinning, weaving, knitting and apparel manufacturing capacities. Young, skilled labour is available at a reasonable cost."

The third segment of Modi's speech alluded to the imperative need to document India's textiles diversity, "India is a country with diverse culture, fashion and traditions. This diversity is clearly reflected in the clothing present in different regions. We should catalogue and map our clothing diversity and clearly earmark strengths and specialties of each state or region. Each state should appoint nodal officers dedicated to a few well-known products, who would facilitate producers and traders across the value chain. The intervention should start from production to export of garments. It should meet the specific requirements of domestic as well as export markets."

One of the problems that hold back the Indian textiles and apparel industry is the dearth of authentic and fresh numbers. Modi took this concern forward, "We should also formulate an action plan to study and map the requirements of people in large global markets and monitor new trends in fashion and textiles in these areas on a real-time basis. Government councils and industry bodies should rise to the occasion, in a spirit of cooperation. This would enable us to channel our energies in meeting those requirements and give a boost to our exports."

This ought to come as a wake-up call for both industry as well as research organisations. Right now, except for export-import related data and production of cotton, jute or silk-all of which come from the commerce or textiles ministries-there is precious little updated/ authentic information to go by. Those are good for macro-economic studies, and are precise and timely for those interested in the direction that the country's economy is heading.

Beyond that, ferreting out numbers related to the textiles and apparel industry, especially authentic ones, is like banging one's head against a wall.

The Central Silk Board (CSB) signed an agreement with the department of agriculture at the Gyangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China that would explore the development of improved silkworm breeds and mulberry varieties suitable to both countries by exchange of sericulture genetic materials, etc. The development commissioner for handlooms at the ministry of textiles signed a pact with the Australian department of foreign affairs and trade to work on Australian-Indian textiles and fashion projects. The third major agreement was between the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and the Bangladesh University of Fashion & Technology for encouraging academic cooperation and strengthening academic interventions between the two institutes.

The India-Australia MoU on cooperation in the textiles, clothing and fashion sectors had earlier been approved by the Union Cabinet in June. The MoU will facilitate cooperation in relation to matters that may be of mutual interest and benefit to the participants. The participants will jointly identify appropriate measures to connect the Australian and Indian textiles and fashion sectors; promote collaboration and international engagement between those sectors; nurture the skills and talents within those sectors; promote economic opportunities and encourage professional engagement, training, skill development and public exhibition of products derived from these sectors in the two countries. Intellectual property rights of either side will stand protected.

The proposal for signing an understanding had, in fact, come from the Australian side. Australian fashion designers, producing garments using Indian woven and other Indian textiles for both the Indian and Australian markets had evinced interest to work with stakeholders in India which includes cooperation with textiles and handloom sectors, with a view to provide state-of-art, designing of textiles and handloom products and market them in India as well as internationally.

On a similar vein, The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council of India (TEXPROCIL) and the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association agreed on providing appropriate assistance and advice to member companies or their businessmen for business visits to the respective countries annually to participate in trade fairs, exhibitions, business seminars and other activities. TEXPROCIL and the China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Textiles agreed to do the same by the means of another agreement.

Agreements on exchange of information were signed between Powerloom Development & Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) and Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association; Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) and International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF); TEXPROCIL and China Cotton Textiles Association (CCTA); PDEXCIL and Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI); PDEXCIL and National Institute of Design (NID); and, Cotton Association of India (CAI) and International Cotton Association (ICA).

Many of the MoUs related to research & development (R&D): between Synthetic & Art Silk Mills' Research Association (SASMIRA) and Texas Tech University (TTU), US; Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) and Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR); and NITRA and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research South Africa. Deals were also signed on cooperation in research activities between Wool Research Association (WRA) and Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic; WRA and Deakin University, Australia; Man-Made Textiles Research Association (MANTRA) and Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology; WRA and Directorate of Research and Business Engagement, University of Manchester; WRA and TEMAG Laboratuvari, ITU, Turkey; MANTRA and South Gujarat Textiles Processors Association (SGTPA).

Trade promotion was the subject of many of the agreements signed between Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) and various foreign partners: Kabul Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sri Lankan Apparel Brands Association, Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Malaysian Textiles Manufacturers Association and Indian Chamber of Commerce and Culture, Slovakia.

Addressing newspersons after the deals had been signed, Smriti Irani said that the ongoing developments signalled a golden era for the country's textiles industry. She reassured industry about the commitment of the government of India in promoting the sector. Union textiles secretary, Anant Kumar Singh; additional secretary, Pushpa Subrahmanyam, and textiles commissioner, Kavita Gupta, were among those present, besides a huge representation from industry.

The ministers: Putting heads together

Individual members of the textiles and apparel sector and various industry associations had always-till the other day, certainly-lamented the apparent apathy of other ministries to the affairs of the ministry of textiles. From the ministry of finance to that of commerce, and from the ministry of agriculture to that of power, the policies and regulations of umpteen ministries affect the textiles and apparel industry. Yet, leaving aside the mandatory administrative and regulatory interactions aside, there had never been a concerted move towards any inter-ministerial cooperation. Textiles India 2017, needlessly to say, for the first time, was witness to such high-level collaboration. Whether this will translate into productive synergy is something that only time can tell; but what was certain was that there could not have been a better start towards such an end.

As many as nine Union ministers were present at the event, either to deliver addresses or chair various sessions. Senior government functionaries too figured in the events.

Minister for information & broadcasting, urban development, housing and urban poverty alleviation, M Venkaiah Naidu reiterated the Union government's commitment to make India global textiles and apparel manufacturing hub. He affirmed that the government would continue to work in close collaboration with industry and academia to ensure that the textiles sector flourishes. Naidu underlined that considering the potential of the sector to generate employment, attract investment and increase exports, the government had approved a special package for the apparel sector in June 2016, and subsequently special package for made-ups in December 2016.

As chair of the session on 'Productivity and Product Diversification Challenges for Natural Fibres', agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh spoke about natural fibres being the backbone of the textiles industry. Given the limitations in increasing the area under cultivation, the only way to improve production would be to increase productivity. Introduction of high-yielding varieties, best agronomical practices, efficient fibre extractors and effective utilisation for diversified products could do so. He said this was the right time for stakeholders to formulate a suitable strategy to increase productivity of all natural fibres. The textiles minister added that steps would be taken for regular exchange of information, knowledge and best practices between the two ministries.