India should become self-sufficient in textile machinery, says Union Minister Piyush Goyal

The Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry was speaking at Asian Textile Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry.

India should become self-sufficient in textile machinery, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry, Consumers Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, said in Coimbatore on Thursday.

Speaking at Asian Textile Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry and SIMA 90 Years Celebration, the Minister said Coimbatore was known as the Manchester of south India. The FTA with the UK, when signed, would enable the textile industry here to capture the markets that had once taken away the textile business of Coimbatore region.

Similarly, signing of trade agreements with countries such as Switzerland would enable the textile machinery industry here to collaborate with businesses in those countries and produce machinery here.

India was regaining its lost glory. It had the potential to become the world’s largest textile hub. Almost 30 % of textile production came from Tamil Nadu. “I feel that we will have to be more ambitious, self confident,” he said.

India’s exports grew 55 % in two years to register $ 776 billion in 2022-2023. The Indian economy was now at $ 3.7 trillion and two-thirds of its population was in the working age. For the next 30 years, India was estimated to have a young population with average age less than 30 years. Even if the economy grew at the current rate, Indian economy would cross $ 30 trillion by 2047, he said. “We have brought in an era of political stability…bringing stability to the economy and corruption free government.”

Darshana Vikram Jardhosh, Minister of State for Textiles and Railways, the government was committed to creating an environment that was conducive for economic growth. All stakeholders should put in efforts to make the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi a reality of making India the third largest economy in the world.

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Tamil Nadu, R. Sakkarapani, and Minister for Handlooms and Textiles, Tamil Nadu, R. Gandhi, K. Annamalai, president of BJP Tamil Nadu, and Vanathi Srinivasan, Coimbatore South MLA also spoke.

T. Rajkumar, chairman of CITI, expressed hope that the government would withdraw the 11 % import duty on cotton. Ravi Sam, chairman of Southern India Mills’ Association, added that the second edition of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, when introduced, would be a game changer for the industry as it would benefit the MSMEs.

The Hindu is the media partner for the event.