The government on Friday said it expects textile exports to grow by 15 per cent in 2013—14, marking a turnaround for such shipments that declined by 4 per cent to $ 22.2 billion during April—February last fiscal.
“We hope textile exports will do better this fiscal. It is expected that these exports would grow by 15 per cent in 2013—14 as the demand from western markets is rising,” Minister of State for Textiles Panabaaka Lakshmi said after inaugurating an exhibition titled ‘Shilpangan’ here.
The six—day long fair was organised by industry chamber FICCI along with Rural Non—Farm Development Agency (RUDA) wherein exhibitors are showcasing a wide variety of handicraft items from Rajasthan.
The focus of the exhibition is to encourage and demonstrate the artefacts and other products developed by self—help groups, small and medium industry and craftsmen.
On demand for Indian textile items, Lakshmi said, “The exporters are getting good number of orders from the US market but the demand in European market is yet to pick up.”
Besides, she said, exporters are exploring emerging markets such as Latin America, Africa and Russia.
The US and EU together account for 60 per cent of the country’s total textiles exports.
During April—February 2012—13, India’s textiles exports declined by 4.1 per cent to $22.25 billion compared to the same period previous fiscal on account of weak demand from western markets.