New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday called for strengthening the textile value chain from “farm to fibre, factory, fashion and foreign markets” to boost India’s global textile competitiveness and achieve ambitious export targets.
She made the remarks while addressing the TEXPROCIL Export Awards 2023–24 ceremony held in Mumbai. The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council organised the event to honour top performers in India’s cotton textile export sector.
Sitharaman said India must target textile exports worth $100 billion and textile production of $250 billion by 2030 to support the Viksit Bharat vision. She noted that India had emerged as the world’s sixth-largest textile exporter.
According to the Finance Minister, the textile sector supports nearly six crore livelihoods directly and indirectly. She also said the sector contributes around 2.3 percent to India’s GDP and accounts for nearly 12 percent of total export earnings.
The minister highlighted India’s ancient textile and weaving traditions while referring to the Sindhu-Saraswati Civilisation. She said the country’s textile heritage continued to shape its global identity in the sector.
Sitharaman also distributed awards to exporters for outstanding export performance. TEXPROCIL honoured companies for employment generation, innovation, ESG initiatives and excellence in e-commerce.
Textile value chain backed by government reforms
During the programme, the Finance Minister launched TEXPROCIL’s Advanced Certificate Programme in International Trade. Officials designed the initiative to strengthen India’s export ecosystem and improve global trade competitiveness.
Sitharaman said the Union government introduced several reforms after 2014 to modernise the textile industry. These measures included GST reforms, subsidy support and the PM MITRA Parks initiative for world-class infrastructure development.
She said the government was developing seven PM MITRA textile parks across India. Investment agreements worth more than ₹27,000 crore have already been signed under the scheme.
The minister also highlighted the Samarth Scheme for skill development and empowerment of marginalised communities. In addition, she referred to the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme, which supports technology modernisation in the textile sector.
Textile Commissioner Vrunda Desai thanked the Finance Minister for announcing textile-focused initiatives in the Union Budget. TEXPROCIL Chairman Vijay Agarwal said the council’s exporters contributed nearly $11 billion in exports and supported around 35 million jobs.
