MoUs worth Rs. 8835 crore signed in textile sector during Vibrant Gujarat 2017

Union Textiles Minister Zubin Irani on 12 January 2017 announced that Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 8835 crore were signed in textile sector. The MoUs were signed during 8th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017 in Gandhinagar.

The MoUs cover different sectors of textiles such as textile parks, textile processing, equipment, carpet production, etc.

Textile Sector: Gujarat Scenario

• Gujarat is known by various names such as Textile State of India, Manchester of the East and Denim Capital of India.

• The State is a leader in textiles with more than 1500 medium and large textile units.

• Gujarat's textile market is estimated to be around 25 billion US dollars by 2017.

• Gujarat produces 29% of India’s total cotton production.

• Kutch, Surendranagar, Ahmedabad, Ankleshwar and Surat are the major textile hubs in the State.

• Strengths: Gujarat has the abundant availability of raw material. It is the largest cotton producing state with a production of 12.5 million bales in 2014-15.

• The State has strong base across the entire value chain.

• Leading national and international companies like Ahlstrom, Hygienics, TenCate Geosynthetics, Arvind Mills, Raymond, Aditya Birla Nuvo are located in the State.

• Gujarat is also home to reputed academic institutions such as National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Gandhinagar and National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad.

• To promote the textile sector, the State Government has announced various policy interventions such as 5% interest subsidy on new plant and machinery, power tariff concession on new investment for cotton spinning, etc.

Indian Textile Industry: Key Facts

• Globally, India has 2nd largest textile manufacturing capacity. It also has 59% of the world’s loom capacity.

• India is home to 24% of the world’s spindle capacity.

• The textile sector is the second largest employer after agriculture.

• As per an estimate, around 45 million people are directly employed and 60 million people are indirectly employed in the textile sector.

• The textile sector contributes around 10% to total manufacturing production in India.