With its new textile policy in place, Gujarat has been able to attract investments in textile sector like weaving, knitting, fabric processing, apparel manufacturing. The state has also attracted investments in over 1.2 million spindles which have either been commissioned or are in the process of being installed. The Gujarat textile policy aims at installing around 2.5 million spindles by 2017-18 and taking the number of spindles installed from 1.2 million to 3.7 million by 2017-18. As per latest statistics, there are around 700,000 weaving looms operating in Gujarat, out of which 25 per cent are shuttleless, approximately 600 medium and large, 2,000 small and hand fabric processing units, and around 1,000 technical textile units, including converting units.

According Chandan Chatterjee, Director, Center for Entrepreneurship Development, the main purpose behind the policy is to add value to the cotton that is produced in the state and also provide a thrust to the labour-intensive apparel manufacturing sector and also the technical textile sector. The new policy will also target technology upgradation, specifically in weaving and fabric processing segments. Interestingly, Gujarat is the largest manufacturer of weaving and processing machinery in the country. The recent announcement of the capital goods policy with its focus on textile machinery by the Union Ministry of Heavy Engineering is expected to give a boost to the sector.

The state also expects investments in spinning will act as a driving force and a force multiplier for investments in other segments like knitting, weaving, processing, apparel manufacturing, etc. Investors have committed investments in the knitting sector too, which till date was not as strong as in, say, Tirupur or Ludhiana. The existing fabric process houses too have begun upgrading their technology so as to be able to process knitted fabrics too.