COUNTRY GUIDE: INDIA
INDIA
An International Fashion Superpower
In the big picture, the Republic of India has the seventh largest economy in the world, exporting $324 billion dollars in goods in 2019. Apparel exports contributed to nearly five percent of that total, around $15,509 million. The sector is the country’s largest employment provider after agriculture, employing 12.9 million people. According to a report by TIFAC (see below), “approximately, one out of every six households in the country depends on this sector, either directly or indirectly, for their livelihood, resulting in direct employment to over 45 million people and to another 60 million people who are engaged in its allied activities.” India’s capabilities stretch beyond materials for the apparel industry to include technical textiles for industries like agriculture, healthcare, construction, packaging, sports equipment, automotive, etc.
Twelve major ports (with more than 200 others), service India’s 4,671-mile (7,517 km) coastline, with major plans to build and further modernize shipping infrastructure by 2025. There are also six major airports spread across the country.
• Massive apparel and textiles export business • Source for industrial textiles • Modern infrastructure • Utilized by leading fashion brands and retailers • Artisanal to full-scale manufacturing prospects • Organized approach to structural reform Key Materials: Key Products: Key Manufacturing Capabilities: • Cotton, silk, jute, and wool • Polyester, viscose • Leather • Plastics • Precious and semi-precious stones • Woven textiles • Knit apparel and accessories • Casual shirting • Embroidery, beading, embellished fabrics • Jewelry • Footwear • Large raw material and manufacturing base • Cotton expertise • Rich legacy of textile production Highlights:
Diverse Opportunities
India’s capacious supply chain permits everything from mass production quantities to smaller, focused consignments by skilled craftspeople. The region’s deep history creating intricate products, handwork, crafts, embroidery, beading, and much more lends itself to detailed embellishment work of all kinds. India is also the home of the Madras shirt which took the 1960s Ivy League crew by storm. That facility with color, hand woven textiles, and casual shirting is still a strength today, as in an extensive expertise in garment dyeing.
India is the world’s largest producer of cotton, produced by 6 million small and mid-sized farms annually. Only one percent of that production is organic, but that still means the nation is producing 56 percent of the world’s organic cotton. The Organic Cotton Accelerator (a global platform stimulating expansion in cotton sustainability), is making moves to incentivize farmers to embrace the more ecologically friendly methods of their ancestors, sure to result in an even larger supply of Indian-grown organic material.
India is also a reliable source for accessories, including jewelry, soft goods, and leather goods. Gems and jewelry exports hit $ 29.01 billion in 2020, with nearly $19 billion of that coming from cut and polished diamonds.
Currently India produces around 10 to 13 percent of the global supply of raw materials in the leather industry, according to the report. Leather production is estimated to be 2,100 million square feet (1800 from domestic sources, and 300 from imported raw materials). While tanning is clustered in certain states, and regional, ethnic footwear manufacturers account for less than 5 percent of production; this clustering approach “has the advantages of skilled labor, machinery capacity sharing, common effluent treatment plants, ease of chemicals and accessory availability, service engineers, etc.”
A Roadmap For The Future
The Technology Information, Forecasting, and Assessment Council (TIFAC) is a body under the Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology. As part of its Vision 2035 program, TIFAC has presented a roadmap to stimulate technology and innovation in the nation’s manufacturing sectors, leading to major growth by the year 2035. The textile and apparel sector has been identified as on with potential for major growth, as has that of leather goods and leather processing. The brief points out that “New technologies like customized apparel production, wearable electronics, technical textiles, zero effluent processes, etc., are likely to gain momentum and shall offer a cuttingedge advantage to the Indian textile industry.”
That same report points out some of the industry’s failings from an environmental standpoint (not so different from international industry problems) like discharging contaminated water into rivers, streams, and lakes; emissions that contribute to acid rain; packaging and other materials contributing to landfills; high intensity noise, etc. Luckily the report identifies eco-friendly processes as crucial to the sector’s future, as it goes on to recommend updates across the sector from improving cotton fiber production as well as that of high-performance fibers, placing less demand on the water supply, and improved waste management.
SOURCING at MAGIC Online
DISCOVER NOW
manufacturers, suppliers
service
apparel
footwear
textiles, materials, components, supply
technology
SOURCING at MAGIC is a domestic and international gathering of
and
providers from
and
manufacturing, to
chain, and
solutions – both in-person and online.