Goyal urges industry to use reusable resource to reduce pressure on environment
Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Developed Countries is high on the Government’s agenda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said at an industry event on 17 Aug 2022.
And the Textile Industry has a big role to play in making the FTAs a success, said Goyal at the 10th Asian Textiles Conference TEXCON, ‘Reimagining the Textile and Apparel Industry for the next Decade’.
Further, innovation is going to be the defining feature in India’s march towards becoming a Developed Nation, he underlined.
The Minister highlighted the role of innovation across all value chains in the Textile sector and also urged the Textile sector to focus on recycling and digitization.
Goyal, who is also the Textile Minister, urged the industry to focus on innovation, sustainability, digitisation, newer products and utilisation of FTAs which can help the sector grow fast and compete with the best in the world.
Speaking on sustainability, Goyal said that textiles sector can reduce the pressure on the environment by using reusable resources as well as reduce its own production costs.
The Minister underlined that digitisation is another area which can help optimise the entire value chain in the sector.
Expressing satisfaction at the fact that the industry captains are talking about digitisation, he said, “In current era of information technology, every industry is benefitting from new technologies like blockchain and more.”
He suggested that the industry should think about high quality products and elementary products like zip and embellishments, which the Indian textile industry imports at present.
Complementing Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, CITI, for bringing together all stakeholders of the Textiles value chain on one platform, Goyal noted that the Indian textile sector was aiming for US$100 billion exports by 2030.
Also addressing the industry, Minister of State for Textiles, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, told the captains of Indian textile and apparel industry to prepare themselves to face the challenges of structural shift in the global textile market.
Textiles Ministry Secretary Upendra Prasad Singh noted that the Indian textile industry has the strength to expand in the global market as it has a complete value chain.
The government is working proactively to address the current problems of the industry, he added.
T. Rajkumar, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) noted how the global textile industry is witnessing a reshuffle of the entire supply chain including the countries from which apparel is sourced.
The global textile and apparel exports was valued at US$828 billion in 2021, up 8% on US$770 billion in the previous year. fiinews.com
