The Indian textile industry contributes about 14 per cent to industrial production, 4 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and 17 per cent to the country’s export earnings, according to the Annual Report 2009-10 of the Ministry of Textiles.
The industry provides direct employment to over 35 million people and is the second largest provider of employment after agriculture.
According to the Ministry of Textiles, the total cloth production increased by 10.2 per cent during September 2010 as compared to September 2009. The highest growth was observed in the powerloom sector (13.2 per cent), followed by hosiery sector (9.1 per cent). The total cloth production during April-September 2010 has increased by 2.1 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.
As per the latest data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), Kolkata, the total textile exports during April-July 2010 (provisional) were valued at US$ 7.58 billion as against US$ 7.21 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year, registering an increase of 5.20 per cent in rupee terms. The share of textile exports in total exports was 11.04 per cent during April-July 2010, according to the Ministry of Textiles.
As per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), cotton textiles has registered a growth of 8.2 per cent during April-September 2010-11, while wool, silk and man-made fibre textiles have registered a growth of 2.2 per cent while textile products including wearing apparel have registered a growth of 3 per cent.
As per a Ministry of Textiles press release dated November 2, 2010, India has the potential to increase its textile and apparel share in the world trade from the current level of 4.5 per cent to 8 per cent and reach US$ 80 billion by 2020.
Technical Textile Segment
According to the Ministry of Textiles, technical textiles are an important part of the textile industry. The Working Group for the Eleventh Five Year Plan has estimated the market size of technical textiles to increase from US$ 5.29 billion in 2006-07 to US$ 10.6 billion in 2011-12, without any regulatory framework and to US$ 15.16 billion with regulatory framework. The Scheme for Growth and Development of Technical Textiles aims to promote indigenous manufacture of technical textile to leverage global opportunities and cater to the domestic demand.
Further, the government is set to launch US$ 44.21 million mission for promotion of technical textiles, while the Finance Ministry has cleared setting up of four new research centres for the industry, which include products like mosquito and fishing nets, shoe laces and medical gloves.
As per a joint study of the Ministry of Textiles and an industry body, the global technical industry is estimated at US$ 127 billion and its size in India is pegged at US$ 11 billion.
According to the Ministry of Textiles, investment under the Technology Upgradation Fund Schemes (TUFS) has been increasing steadily. During the year 2009-10, 1896 applications have been sanctioned at a project cost of US$ 5.23 billion. The cumulative progress as on December 31, 2009, includes 27,477 applications sanctioned, which has triggered investment of US$ 45.5 billion and amount sanctioned under TUFS is US$ 18.9 billion of which US$ 16.4 billion has been disbursed so far till the end of April, 2010. The Ministry of Textile has sanctioned a total of US$ 133 million under TUFS during September 2010.
Moreover, in May 2010, the Ministry of Textiles informed a parliamentary panel that it proposes to allocate US$ 785.2 million for the modernisation of the textile industry.