Comments
Having come to terms with the new normal, textile entrepreneurs highlighted the need to revive export engine to grow.
The industry has in recent weeks received enquiries from overseas buyers to source apparel from India, say industry insiders.
Stating that it is an emerging trend and a positive sign for the next cycle, Indian Texpreneurs’ Federation (ITF) Convenor Prabhu Damodharan said “we should capitalise on this opportunity. The industry needs to strengthen its product spread particularly in the MMF (Man-made Fibre) space.
“We have to gear up on the processing front and functional aspect to include odour-less, antimicrobial fabric and specialised yarn. Product diversification is a challenge and we at ITF are exploring. The industry should be able to design as per the buyers’ need. “Active Wear” is emerging as a strong global trend.”
On polyester availability, he said that the fibre is available at international prices and the country need no longer depend on import of the raw material.
“The revival is happening, albeit at a snail’s pace. We have advised our members to scale up production after analysing the situation. Capacity utilisation levels hover around 45–50 per cent.
“The government has capped the current loan (outstanding in the bank’s books) at less than ₹25 crore for an MSME to be eligible for support under ECLGS. Unfortunately, the textile industry is highly capital and working capital intensive.
“A unit with 25,000 spindles can achieve a turnover of ₹100 crore, but the investment (to set up 25,000 spindles) would work out to ₹70-80 crore. We have therefore appealed for enhancing the eligibility condition under the scheme to ₹100 crore. Such enhancement would help many units avail the package and in revival of the sector.”
Damodharan further said that ITF had submitted a Crisil Research Report to the government about nine months back seeking a one-time restructure to the needy units. “Now, in the current Covid situation, this one-time restructure would help at least 30 to 40 per cent of our members tide over the crisis.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.