Ministry of Textiles sees domestic market as key to international growth

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 28, 2021

The Union Ministry of Textiles has identified the domestic market as the key to boosting the country’s growth as a manufacturing hub for the global market in its year-end review. 

Investments in high-end textile machinery will enable India to ameliorate its standing in the global textiles market, the Ministry of Textiles announced in its year-end review on Monday, the Press Trust of India reported. Towards this aim, the Ministry said that it approved the creation of seven Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks which will feature state-of-the-art technology to boost production, including in emerging areas such as man-made fibres. 
 
The Ministry of Textile’s plan to boost the domestic manufacturing industry is part of the Union Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. The project is designed to increase domestic production and reduce the country’s trade deficit in multiple industries. 

The Ministry also took the opportunity to address the upcoming goods and services tax rate hike which has come under strong criticism from numerous trade bodies. “The government has notified uniform goods and services tax rate at 12% on MMF, MMF yarn, MMF fabrics and apparel that has addressed the inverted tax structure in the MMF textile value chain,” said the Ministry of Textiles in a statement on December 27, the Press Trust of India reported. “The changed rates will come into effect from 1 January, 2022.” 
 
“The domestic textile and apparel production is approx $140 billion [Rs 9.3 lakh crore] including $40 billion of Textiles and Apparel export,” said the ministry of Textiles in its report. “The textile and apparel industry contributed 2% in the overall GDP of India in 2019 and 11% to total manufacturing in GVA.”