The global mega textile event united industry leaders, innovators, and artisans to showcase India’s sartorial excellence. There was exploration of cutting-edge trends, sustainable solutions, and limitless opportunities in the powerhouse that dresses up the world!
Mega global textiles show Bharat Tex was organized by a consortium of textile export promotion councils, led by Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (AEPC), and the Ministry of Textiles, in New Delhi last week.
The show was held simultaneously at two state of the art venues: Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi and India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida. The main was held from February 14-17 at Bharat Mandapam and covered the entire value chain of textiles. Exhibitions pertaining to handicrafts, garment machinery and ethnic apparel were held from February 12 to 15 at the India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida.
Bharat Tex 2025 aimed to build on the resounding success of the first edition in 2024. Built around the twin themes of resilient global value chains and sustainability, this year’s show was even more vibrant and attractive than the first edition, attracting top policymakers, global CEOs, international exhibitors, and global buyers. A record number of over 5,000 exhibitors, 6,000 international buyers from over 110 countries and over 1, 20,000 visitors participated in this year’s show. In the run-up to the show, APEC and the Ministry of Textiles organised roadshows in the US, the UK, the UAE and Europe last year. Several domestic shows were also held to ensure participation of all segments of the value chain in the mega event.
Bharat Tex 2025 exhibition featured dedicated pavilions for Apparel, Home Furnishings, Floor Coverings, Fibres, Yarns, Threads, Fabrics, Carpets, Silk, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Technical Textiles, Apparel Machinery, Dyes & Chemicals and many more. There was also a retail high street focusing on India’s fashion retail market opportunities.
There were conferences, CEO roundtables, and B2B and G2G meetings across various key topics.
Spinning success
A report on textile sector by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) says that the market for Indian textiles and apparel is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 10 per cent to reach US$ 350 billion by 2030. India is the world’s third largest exporter of textiles and apparel.
The country ranks among top five global exporters in several textile categories, with exports expected to reach US$100 billion. Textiles and apparel industry contributes 2.3 per cent to the country’s GDP, 13 per cent to industrial production and 12 per cent to exports. The sector is expected to double its contribution to the GDP to approximately 5 per cent by the end of this decade.
According to Crisil Ratings, the organised retail apparel sector in India is projected to achieve revenue growth of 8-10 per cent in the current fiscal, driven by rising demand from a normal monsoon, easing inflation, and the festive and wedding seasons.
The increasing preference for affordable, trendy fashion clothing that mimics high-fashion designs is expected to be the primary revenue driver this fiscal year.
India’s textiles sector is extremely varied, with hand-spun and hand-woven textiles sectors at one end of the spectrum and capital-intensive sophisticated mills sector at the other end. The fundamental strength of the textile industry in India is its strong production base of a wide range of yarns from natural fibres like cotton, jute, silk, and wool, to synthetic or man-made fibres like polyester, viscose, nylon and acrylic.
The decentralised power looms or the hosiery and knitting sector form the largest component of the textiles sector. The close linkage of textiles industry to agriculture (for raw materials such as cotton) and the ancient culture and traditions of the country in terms of textiles makes it unique in comparison to other industries in the country.
India’s textiles industry has a capacity to produce a wide variety of products suitable for different market segments, both within India and across the world. In order to attract private equity and employ more people, the Government has introduced various schemes such as the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP), Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) and Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (MITRA) Park scheme.
Global apparel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 8 per cent to reach US$ 2.37 trillion by 2030 and the global textile and apparel trade is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4 per cent to reach US$ 1.2 trillion by 2030.
The Indian technical textile market has a huge potential of a 10 per cent growth rate, increased penetration level of 9-10 per cent and is the fifth largest technical textiles market in the world. India’s sportech industry is estimated around US$ 1.17 million in 2022-23.
The Indian medical textiles market for drapes and gowns is around US$ 9.71 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at 15 per cent to reach US$ 22.45 million by 2027.
The Indian composites market is expected to reach an estimated value of US$ 1.9 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 16.3 per cent from 2021 to 2026 and the Indian consumption of composite materials will touch 7,68,200 tonnes in 2027.
Cotton glory
India is the world’s largest producer of cotton globally, accounting for 23 per cent of total global production. Cotton crop holds special significance for the Indian economy and the livelihood of Indian farmers. This crop grows over 13.06 million hectares in India compared to 33.1 million hectares globally. The Indian cotton industry provides livelihood to about 60 million people in the country.
India’s total production of cotton in 2023-24 (provisional) is 32.5 million bales (bales of 170 kg each). Total production of cotton in 2022-23 was 33.6 million bales and in 2021-22, it stood at 31.1 million bales. The Central Zone (which comprises states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh) was the biggest producer of cotton in India in 2022-23, with Gujarat being the highest producer of the Central Zone, contributing 9.49 million bales.
Saurashtra constitutes about 70 per cent of Gujarat’s cotton production, with farmers in Amreli – the state’s largest cotton district – playing a key role. Yavatamal, Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Nagpur, Washim, and Wardha are the districts of Vidarbha which are Maharashtra’s major cotton-producing areas.
The Southern Zone (which comprises states like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu) is the second biggest producer of cotton, producing about 28.5 per cent of the nation’s cotton, with Telangana producing the largest in the Southern Zone and the third largest in the country, contributing 5.31 million bales.
The value of cotton exports reached US$ 6.78 billion in 2023-24, and US$ 1.63 billion by June 2024.
As per Cotton Corporation of India, India’s total cotton exports were 2.8 million bales in 2023-24 and 3.0 million bales in 2022-23 valued at US$ 5.66 billion in 2022-23 compared to US$ 10.78 billion in 2021-22, and US$ 6.3 billion in 2020-21.
The Government along with Export Promotion Council has set a long-term target of US$ 100 billion for textiles industry exports by 2025-26 and growing productivity from the current level of around 450 kg lint per hectare to at least 800-900 kg lint per hectare. The focus continues to be on adoption of latest innovative technologies and global best farming practices to enhance productivity and achieve sustainable quality cotton output.
To achieve these goals, the emphasis remains on motivating cotton farmers through awareness meetings, timely advisories and transfer of technology from the lab to the field in the most effective manner by using natural methods and adopting modern scientific farm practices.
