IT’S TIME TO ‘UNCHAIN’ THE GLOBAL TEXTILE VALUE CHAIN

The Indian textile industry has a few parallels in the world, and belonging to the country of traditions, textiles are one of our most cherished ones. We are one of the few global players who boast of a complete textile value chain employing over 45 million people out of which 75% are females. This is a testimony to how important textiles are to our country. Not only the textile industry is women-centric, but it is also India-centric. 
Focusing on our Prime Ministers’ mantra of Vocal For Local and Made In India, the textile industry’s value chain is completely indigenous. From farming of cotton and jute to manufacturing of man-made fibre, spinning, dyeing, finishing, manufacturing, designing, and finally retailing and exporting, we do it all! Our textile value chain is what distinguishes us globally. 
Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, not only has India forged new partnerships but has also successfully strengthened its existing ones. At the recently concluded G20 Summit in New Delhi, India along with the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, The European Union (EU), France, Germany and Italy, launched the IMEC project i.e. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. This economic corridor has the potential to be the miracle corridor for the textile value chain of India. It has the potential to be India’s new silk route, connecting the east to the west and scripting a new chapter of prosperity and economic growth. This new trade route once operational will not only benefit the Indian textiles industry which is one of the world’s largest producer of cotton, polyester, viscose and silk, but will also open new markets for the Gulf and the western nations, thereby harbouring mutual growth. 
With many lucrative Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signed and many more in the pipeline along with developments such as IMEC and the latest technological advancements that have made the global market more accessible to us, the textile value chain of India, must now embrace a more global role and become the leading textile manufacturing powerhouse of the world for this is the century of Bharat and the textile value chain must seize this moment.
Propelled by the PM vision of One Earth, One Family and One Future, India enjoys unparalleled foreign relations in today’s time and the textile industry stands to gain immensely from the same by cultivating the benefit provided by India’s global clout and replacing the more vulnerable supply chains that have often failed the global economy. 
But what makes the Indian textile supply chain a formidable contender to answer the world’s current supply chain problems? The answer lies in the industry’s ever-dynamic capability to adapt to change and upgrade with time. Indian textiles was a global powerhouse during the pre-colonial period of the 15th and 16th centuries and is again ready to take on the role. 
Apart from being a fully self-reliant supply chain, it is also making strives to be technology-ready. It is embracing AI and Blockchain technology to ensure that the entire textile value supply chain benefits from the opportunities presented by new-age technology. An example of this is the Kasturi Cotton brand initiative of the textile ministry which would enable a consumer to scan a QR code on the branded cotton and enable them to trace the entire journey of the cotton bales from the moment it is plucked to when it goes into spinning and ginning, all by using block chain technology. This is one of the examples that shows the determination of the textile industry to become future-ready and many of such initiatives will be on display at Bharat Tex 2024.
These developments, combined with the ever-stronger will of the Indian textile sector, are bound to make it a successful alternative to the current global supply chain of textiles. The upcoming Bharat Tex 2024 - the mega textile fair is a further step in this direction whereby the world would gain an insight into the magnificent advancements that are taking place in the Indian textile industry and witness the potential it holds for ‘unchaining the global supply chain’.