Upendra Prasad Singh, the Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles said that the Indian apparel sector’s primary aim should be on upwards integration to increase its scale and size and to benefit from the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, a statement released by the Ministry of Textiles said.
Upendra Prasad Singh was speaking at the 44th Foundation Day of Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) when he said that the apparel and garment sector is not very investment focused, but the sector holds strong importance from the employment generation perspective. He said that there is a necessity for backward integration in the sector so that more people can get involved in the integrated value-chain like spinning and weaving, thus creating employment opportunities.
The Textiles Secretary while virtually addressing the event said that in conjunction with the Production Linked Incentive scheme, the government has pledged to make the Prime Minister Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme a huge success. The idea of the said scheme is to build a thriving apparel industry, and not just have a world-class infrastructure.
The Secretary further said that the textile has always been one of the topmost priorities of the government and currently the industry houses a lot of great opportunities. The demand for the industry is continuing to be strong. China plus one sourcing strategy put into effect by the western economies is acting as a great opportunity and healthy boost for our country’s apparel industry. UP Singh said that the opportunity can be cashed in as it depends on how greatly structured and amalgamated the Indian apparel industry is and how it can increase its size and the scale of production.
He further added that Apparel Export Promotion Council will be playing a big role in the growth of the apparel industry. He urged the attendees to focus on the micro-level of the industry too, rather than getting stuck onto the macro level. Let us move forward adding products one by one and country by country, he added. Noting his confidence, he projected that either by the next fiscal or by the fiscal after that, the country would be in a situation to cross the USD 20 billion apparel exports threshold. He further said that the nations’ textile exports can grow significantly from the current USD 40 billion to USD 100 billion in the coming five years.
The Apparel Export Promotion Council Chairman, Narendra Goenka shared the journey of the AEPC from the time of its establishment in the year 1978, when it was just a quota monitoring and export promotion body, which is now a Council that provides multiple services ranging from skill development, estimation and valuation, market intelligence, advisory, capacity building programs on financial risks, acceptance management, Intellectual Property Rights issues, Artificial Intelligence and technology-driven production remodelling, lean and six sigma, circularity, sustainability, and many others.
Goenka enumerated the main focuses for the apparel sector, namely leverage policy support for improving scales, product variety, making use of the upcoming Free Trade Agreements, creating new Unique Selling Points based on sustainability and responsible business, usage of technology and Artificial Intelligence for a better supply chain process, and better branding. The Vice-Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council, Sudhir Sekhri, talked about the recent initiatives that the Apparel Export Promotion Council has taken up for providing a comprehensive boost to the apparel sector.
The Apparel Export Promotion Council is the recognized body of the Indian apparel exporters and works under the patronage of the Ministry of Textiles, which imparts invaluable support and assistance to the Indian exporters, along with the importers and the international buyers.
