The Indian textile industry plays a pivotal role in the economic performance of the country. India’s textiles and apparel products, including handlooms and handicrafts, are exported to more than 100 countries.
We need to work to see that India is not treated as an outsourcing destination anymore! We must establish our own sales and distribution networks internationally to get the better margins and improve the standard of life of our shop-floor workers.
Multinational brands draw high margins just by outsourcing from India, whereas we are busy in selling to these brands in a thin margin instead of focusing on the retail it at a desired margin. Not only do we need to invest in textile infrastructure, but also need to establish brands in order to capture a greater portion of the value chain.
However, in higher value-added industry segments such as fabric and apparel, it has a relatively small share of approximately 4% of the global output. The Government has a great vision to secure a higher share in the global textile trade and to establish the Indian textile industry as a international competitive producer. To achieve the target, the Indian textile & apparel industry and the Textiles Ministry have to work together and focus on the following areas:
- To provide the competitive resources to the industries as low-cost finance for working capital & availability of low-cost energy so as to be most competitive in the global market. (Due to higher lead time to convert the Fiber to Fashion)
- To increase investments in advanced and fully integrated manufacturing facilities to produce the designed quality with minimum cost within the shortest lead time. Allocation of funds needs to be increased under TUFS to expedite investments.
- To produce value-added products with specialized designing & finishes. Currently Indian exports mainly cater to the low to medium price segment of the fashion market. There is huge scope to cater to the fashion market with higher margins compared to the discount segment.
- Need to restructure the policies to further encourage fabric & garment production and avoid export of low margin raw and semi-raw materials.
- To strengthen the distribution network not only in the global but also in the domestic market by covering small cities / towns & villages, the unexplored areas having huge opportunities, etc.
- Need to facilitate the areas of in-house production of technologically advanced machineries. Till then all textile and clothing machineries must be exempted from customs & excise duty.
- To increase investments in the R&D activities with world-class facilities for the development and production of fine & superfine cotton and wool fibers (yet depending on import), product design developments and textile & clothing manufacturing processes.
- Fast and continuous developments of human assets and to retain them.
- Active & effective participation of expert technocrats in the policy decisions with the Government as well as private entrepreneurs.
- Quick attention & response by the Government for timely action to face global competition.
The impact of the demonetization exercise carried out by the Government in November 2016 had its negative impact on the textile value chain. However, this was transitory in nature. At the same time, implementation of GST is a bold and welcome step with its potential to generate long-term benefits in terms of reduced corruption, fair competition, greater digitalized economy and increased financial savings which will eventually lead to higher GDP growth, better tax compliance and greater tax revenues.
For the textile industry to emerge once again a dominant force in the global economy, what is required of us is disruptive innovation all around.
DIGJAM is a well-known and established brand in the domestic and global markets since last seven decades. Promoted by Digjam Ltd., a global major in textiles with strong brand equity, it is famous for fine & superfine quality of worsted suiting & jacketing fabrics. It has customer-led, design-centric player with a trusted brand for each market segment. It has balanced vertical integration – fiber to finished fabric.
An extensive distribution network with pan-India presence, a wide product portfolio with good quality perception, an experienced technical, sales / marketing & product development team, an integrated worsted manufacturing complex with fully balanced facilities from fiber to finished product together constitute the strength of the company.
The market for worsted products is suffering due to lower demand with the constant increase in wool prices & shorter winter. Competition from synthetic and cotton fabrics from decentralized sectors and cheaper supplies from China influenced customers’ preference, especially youngsters’ choice for jeans, low-cost synthetics fashion fabrics.
The company always focused on designs & developments to enlarge its product portfolio. The latest range covers suitings from Super 70s to Super 180s and premium jacketing fabrics with special finishes as Storm Wear, Antimicrobial, Soil Release, Aroma / Fragrance, UV Protection Finish, etc.
In the next financial year, Digjam proposes to upgrade its manufacturing facilities to further improve the quality of products, productivity and the lead time to satisfy the ongoing customer demand.
By Arvind Kumar Upadhyay, President & COO, Digjam Ltd.