Capability costs shift key to $100 billion textile export target: CMAI | Today’s news
New Delhi: The textile and apparel industry will need to move beyond competing primarily in low-cost manufacturing and build capacity in sustainability, product innovation, digitization and supply chain transparency if India is to achieve its ambition of $100 billion in textile and apparel exports by 2030, a new industry plan said on Thursday.
The next phase of the country’s export growth will depend less on expanding manufacturing capacity and more on strengthening corporate capabilities to meet changing global buyer expectations, said the India Textiles & Apparel CXO Blueprint 2030, prepared jointly by the Apparel Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) and the Global Alliance for Textile Sustainability (GATS).
The report was released at an opportune time in the presence of global buyers and should serve as a guide for the country’s textile ecosystem, help stakeholders unlock new growth opportunities and strengthen the industry’s global competitiveness, Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh said while releasing the report during the ongoing Bharat Tex 2026.
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The news comes as the government seeks to expand India’s presence in global textile markets through free trade agreements, including those with the UAE and the UK, as well as initiatives such as PM MITRA and the Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme.
According to the plan, India’s textile and apparel exports have remained at around USD 40 billion annually for the past six years, growing at only 0.8% annually, well below the 3.5% growth in global textile and apparel trade. India currently accounts for 4.1% of global textile and apparel trade, making it the sixth largest exporter in the world, with the sector directly employing nearly 45 million people.
Exports are falling
Overall, textile and apparel exports fell 2.2% to $35.7 billion in FY26 from $36.6 billion in FY25, while a weaker rupee actually boosted the local currency gain. In rupee terms, exports grew by 2.1%. ₹3.16 trillion from ₹ ₹3.10 trillion in the previous year, according to Commerce Department data.
The report further noted that although the country has built one of the largest textile manufacturing ecosystems in the world, future growth will no longer be determined solely by the scale of production.
“For decades, growth in India’s textile and apparel sector has been a function of capacity. The years to 2030 will reward something else – the speed at which capacity turns into capability,” the report said.
It argued that India has structural strengths that many competing countries lack. The country has an integrated fiber to fashion value chain with 83.2% domestic value added in textile and apparel exports, among the highest in the world, along with a strong position in cotton and carpet exports. However, these strengths have not translated into leadership in the faster growing segments of global business.
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India’s share of global apparel exports remains only around 3%, compared to Bangladesh’s 9.5% and Vietnam’s 7.3%, while its share of the world man-made fiber (MMF) apparel market is about 2%, even though MMF apparel accounts for nearly $240 billion in global exports.
The report noted that future export growth will require greater participation in readymade garments, MMF garments, technical textiles, blended fabrics and other value-added products.
The plan also highlighted the concentration of the country’s export basket. Over 52% of textile exports come from just 134 product categories where India already has over 10% global market share, indicating considerable scope for diversification into higher growth product segments.
While acknowledging that recent bilateral trade deals improve New Delhi’s access to key export markets, the report cautioned that tariff benefits alone will not guarantee higher exports.
Need to strengthen compliance
Companies will also need to strengthen compliance with rules of origin, improve product development, ensure documentation, build traceability systems and consistently meet buyers’ expectations for quality and delivery. Trade agreements should be seen as commercial vehicles rather than substitutes for operational competitiveness, the report says.
She identified sustainability as another area where buyer expectations are rapidly changing. Almost half of India’s textile and apparel exports go to the US and the European Union, markets that are tightening requirements for traceability, recycled content, environmental disclosure and responsible sourcing. As a result, sustainability becomes a market access determinant rather than a mere compliance requirement.
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To improve competitiveness, the proposal proposed that textile companies incorporate five priorities into their core business strategies – circularity, comprehensive traceability, resource-efficient production, product diversification and the adoption of AI, automation and digital technologies. Rather than treating them as separate sustainability initiatives, he noted, they should be integrated into operations, capital planning and product development.
The circular ecosystem needed
The report estimates that an optimized circular textile ecosystem alone could unlock nearly $9.4 billion in economic value through the recovery and reuse of textile waste.
CMAI President Santosh Katariya said India’s next phase of growth will depend on how successfully businesses build capabilities that create greater value for customers and global brands. The plan, he said, aims to provide industry leaders with a practical blueprint to strengthen competitiveness through innovation, collaboration, sustainability and execution.
Established more than six decades ago, CMAI is the apex body representing the Indian apparel industry and trade, including at global platforms such as the International Apparel Federation (IAF).
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The findings of the CMAI report are echoed in another industry report issued by Vector Consulting Group, which argued that the country’s apparel export problem is not so much labor costs, trade agreements or inverted tariff structures, but rather fragmentation across the textile value chain.
The study estimates that 35-45% of fabrics produced in India are exported without being converted into garments, representing a missed export opportunity of US$ 3-7 billion annually.
She added that textile mills and garment manufacturers continue to operate as independent silos, resulting in low sewing efficiency, delayed deliveries and poor financial returns, arguing that better integration across the value chain could unlock significant export growth without major new investment in manufacturing capacity.
