The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA), the single largest employers’ organization representing the entire textile value chain in the country, located at Coimbatore organized the 13th edition of SIMA Texfair 2022 – largest expo of textile machinery, spares, accessories and other supporting services during June 24-27, 2022 at CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex, Coimbatore.
The Expo was formally inaugurated by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal on 25th June 2022. Dr. L. Murugan, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Thiru. R. Gandhi, Hon’ble Minister of Handlooms & Textiles, Government of Tamil Nadu, Thiru. R. Sakkarapani, Hon’ble Minister of Food & Civil Supplies, Government of Tamil Nadu, were also graced the inaugural function as Guests of Honour.
SIMA Chairman Shri Ravi Sam welcomed the Chief Guest, Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Government of India, Dr. L. Murugan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India, Thiru R. Gandhi, Hon’ble Minister for Handlooms and Textiles, Government of Tamil Nadu, Thiru R. Sakkarapani, Hon’ble Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Tamil Nadu, Shri K. Annamalai, President, Bharatiya Janata Party, Tamil Nadu, and the Exhibitors to the inaugural function. During his welcome Address, SIMA Chairman briefed about Texfair 2022.
In his Chief Guest address, Shri Piyush Goyal has highly appreciated the innovative capabilities and entrepreneurial skills of the people of Tamil Nadu especially the twin cities, viz., Coimbatore and Tiruppur. He stated that Tamil Nadu would become the largest hub for textiles, pumps, wet grinders, critical components manufacturing, etc., in the world and boost the economic growth of the Nation. Also highlighted the various policy initiatives taken by the Government and the hard work put in by the industry to achieve USD 440 bn exports especially the textile industry which has increased exports last year by 40% from 35 billion to 44 billion.
Shri Piyush Goyal highly appreciated the efforts taken by SIMA in organizing the Texfair event with world-class standards and providing opportunities for several hundreds of MSME manufacturers to develop import substitution and enhance the competitiveness of the Indian textile industry. He advised the textile machinery and spares manufacturers to achieve 100% self-sufficiency by manufacturing all the machinery from ginning to garmenting indigenously.
Dr. L. Murugan, Hon’ble Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, highlighted the numerous policy initiatives taken by the NDA Government led by Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. He stated that when the entire world was reeling under grave recession due to the ill-effects of COVID pandemic, the unique policy measures taken by the Union Government not only enabled the country to fight the war against Corona, but also to achieve a record export of 440 billion USD.
Shri R. Gandhi, Hon’ble Minister for Handlooms & Textiles, Government of Tamil Nadu, in his Guest of Honour address, appreciated the support extended by the Union Government, especially Hon’ble Minister of Textiles for the growth of the handlooms and textile industry in Tamil Nadu, particularly the removal of 11% import duty on cotton. He requested to allocate more funds for the growth of the industry in Tamil Nadu. He highlighted the various policy initiatives taken by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shri. M.K. Stalin for the growth of textile industry in Tamil Nadu.
Shri R. Sakkarapani, Hon’ble Minister for Food & Civil Supplies, Government of Tamil Nadu, highlighted the contributions made by Tamil Nadu in terms of GDP, industrial production, exports especially by MSME clusters in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode and Dindigul.
Shri K. Annamalai, President, BJP, Tamil Nadu reiterated the proactive initiatives taken by the Government to mitigate the ill-effects of COVID-19 and also the unprecedented price increase of cotton and cotton yarn faced by the cotton textile value chain.
Shri T. Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, briefed about the continuous efforts made by the Hon’ble Union Textile Minister for making Indian textiles & clothing industry to achieve 44.2 billion dollars exports during the year 2021-22, despite unprecedented challenges, a record growth in the history of textile industry.
Dr. S. K. Sundararaman, Deputy Chairman, SIMA, while proposing the vote of thanks, highlighted unique policy measures and time-bound actions taken by Shri Piyush Goyal for the development of the textile industry.
At the Texfair expo, machinery, spares manufacturers / suppliers and other supporting service providers from China, Japan, Switzerland, Italy and USA apart from domestic players across the country catering to various segments of the textile industry showcased their products and services.
The expos provided an opportunity for various clusters of the industry to know the latest improvements in technology and availability of domestic as well as import substitution spares. 235 exhibitors showcased their products and services in 310 stalls. Out of 235 exhibitors, 145 exhibitors have participated in more than five Texfair Expos. The Expo attracted about one lakh visitors and created business worth around Rs.1000 crores. Business visitors from countries like China, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka visited the Expo and derived the benefit, besides the visitors from all over the country.
We thank all the exhibitors for showcasing their products and services, the CEOs of mills for visiting and deputing their technical personnel and also visitors from various textile clusters across the country for making the Expo yet another successful event by the Association.