Falling textile exports have prompted India to tap new markets like the ones being serviced by competitors such as China. In its bid to promote Indian textiles in new markets, the ministry is planning to conduct road shows.
The plan to conduct road shows abroad comes in the wake of a 3.3 per cent decline in exports in 2015-16 to $40 billion from $41.4 billion last year due to India losing its competitive edge to Bangladesh and Vietnam. The textiles sector is among the largest contributors to India’s exports with a share of almost 11 per cent. The US, European Union and parts of Asia are the main markets for Indian textile and apparel exports.
It may be recalled the Central government, had in June, announced a Rs 6,000 crores package for the textiles and apparels sector to help it wrest a bigger share of the global market. Besides pushing exports, road shows abroad will also benefit the domestic textile industry which employs about 40 million workers and 60 million indirectly. The textiles ministry, which has set a target of doubling textile exports in 10 years, plans to enter into bilateral agreements with Africa and Australia along with working on a new textile policy to promote value addition.
