India’s textile and apparel industry continues to strengthen its global standing, supported by an integrated domestic value chain and a series of focused government interventions aimed at enhancing competitiveness and export performance.
Unlike several South Asian and South-East Asian economies that rely heavily on imported raw materials while exporting readymade garments under preferential market access, India benefits from a strong home-grown raw material base and manufacturing capabilities spanning the entire textile value chain. This structural advantage is reflected in India’s textile and apparel exports, including handicrafts, which stood at US$ 37,755.0 million in FY 2024–25, registering a 5.2% growth over the previous year.
To build on this momentum, the Government is rolling out a comprehensive set of schemes and initiatives to modernise infrastructure, boost scale, and improve productivity across the sector. Flagship among these is the PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme, aimed at creating world-class, integrated textile manufacturing hubs. Complementing this is the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, focused on MMF fabrics, MMF apparel and technical textiles, to encourage large-scale manufacturing and enhance global competitiveness.
The National Technical Textiles Mission is driving research, innovation, promotion, and market development in high-value textile segments, while SAMARTH – Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector is delivering demand-driven, placement-oriented skilling to strengthen the industry’s workforce. Sector-specific development is also being pursued through Silk Samagra-2 for sericulture, the National Handloom Development Programme for end-to-end support to handloom clusters, and the National Handicrafts Development Programme along with the Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme to promote traditional crafts.
On the trade front, the Ministry is administering the remission schemes of Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) for garments and made-ups, and the Remissions of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) for other textile products, ensuring that embedded taxes do not erode export competitiveness.
In recent months, the Government has further strengthened the sector through a series of targeted reforms. These include the extension of the Export Obligation period under the Advance Authorisation Scheme for cases involving exemption from mandatory Quality Control Orders (QCOs), revisions to the PLI Scheme to ease entry barriers and investment norms for MMF apparel, MMF fabrics and technical textiles, exemption of import duty on cotton up to 31.12.2025, and rationalisation of GST rates across the textile value chain.
Looking ahead, export diversification is a key priority. The Government has identified 40 focus markets for textiles and has already concluded 15 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and 6 Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) with partner countries to improve market access. In addition, the Export Promotion Mission, implemented through NIRYAT PROTSAHAN and NIRYAT DISHA, is supporting exporters with trade finance, branding, compliance, and market development. The Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters, offering 100% credit guarantee, is expected to significantly benefit MSMEs.
Together, these measures are creating a more competitive, resilient, and future-ready Indian textile industry, strengthening its position as a reliable global supplier across products and markets.
“This information was provided by THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES SHRI PABITRA MARGHERITA in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.”