By Dominick Rodrigues
Mumbai : India- like the proverbial bird +Phoenix+ which rises from its ashes – is showing the world the way through its industry creating opportunity amidst the covid crisis. The Indian textile industry and many of the country’s people, sectors and industries have turned the coronavirus crisis into a beneficial opportunity, according to Anuj Mundra, Chairman & MD, Nandani Creation Limited.
Indian textiles and apparel industry contributed 2.3% to the GDP of India, 13% to industrial production and 12% to export earnings (as of 22nd March 2021). Moreover, exports of readymade garments (of all textiles) was worth US$ 1.04 billion (as of November 2020).
The post-Covid era has provided a big opportunity for the online textile industry. The sales in the online textile industry witnessed a jump in various cities and states of India due to the lockdown that was imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus-caused Covid-19 pandemic. in Retail Sector majorly in all the states and cities.
With cloth being one of the basic needs and requirements after food, the online textile industry — even during the lockdown period — witnessed a boom in sales because of its operations in the virtual space leaving no room for human or physical contact to further spread coronavirus in the country. The online textile industry even registered an increasing trend in sales due to no dependency on the offline industry — for example wholesaler, semi wholesaler, retailers, middle persons etc.
Online retailers to be next Unicorns in New Age India: With such an increasing and upward trend being witnessed in the online textile industry, retailers with a presence on the internet have a big possibility to become the Unicorns (a company with a value of over $1 billion) of the New Age India. When the lockdown was imposed amid the Covid-19 pandemic and it was a summer season, people were doing their summer related purchase online as retail shops were not allowed to open to curtail the spread of coronavirus. With all these developments in place, businesses of the online retail industry also witnessed a spike in revenue sheets.
The online textile industry has all the valid reasons to give birth to new Unicorns in India. During the lockdown, shopping was taking place through the online route and most of the customers were happy with the online experience. Right from choosing items to trying them, even the return policies created a win-win situation for shoppers on the internet as customers felt very comfortable purchasing their stuff online. It has been predicted by many textile industry experts that the trend of increased sales in the online textile industry will continue to persist in future as well. And, hence, the birth of online retailers Unicorns is imminent.
Textile e-retailers: Gamechangers for the Indian economy in the year 2021: In the year 2021, e-retailers will prove to be a big game-changer by playing a pivotal role recovery of the Indian economy in the post-Covid era. Indian textiles and apparel industry have contributed 2.3% to the GDP of India, 13% to industrial production and 12% to export earnings. Post Covid-19 pandemic, when the Indian economy showing green shoots of recovery the future of the online textile industry looks promising in the wake of increased domestic consumption after a lockdown in addition to export demand playing an important role.
Even the government has made it clear that the textile sector is one of the key focus of new policies being framed to achieve the target of 5 trillion dollar economy. The government in its Budget 2021-22 proposed a scheme for setting up mega textile parks in the country to enable India’s textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investments and boost employment generation through the creation of world-class infrastructure.
It has been announced in the Budget 2021 that 7 seven mega textile parks will be established over three years as part of the scheme. The mega textile parks will have integrated facilities and quick turnaround time for minimizing transportation losses, eyeing big-ticket investments in the sector. Now, with such a massive level of production in the textile sector due to the unprecedented boost by the government, e-retailers are going to be the biggest beneficiary of these developments. Online shoppers have already tasted the convenience, trust and comfort of shopping on the internet and will continue to enjoy and avail benefits in future as well. And, e-retailers will emerge as the biggest winners in this entire success journey of the online textile industry.
Moreover, technology can play a role of big brother in reviving, rejuvenating and reinvigorating the Indian textile industry. Undoubtedly, tech support is vital to any sector but when it comes to textile, it becomes even more important due to the integral role of machines right from sourcing raw material to giving final shape to the products that eventually consumers are going to get. Further, Indian textile industry is expected to witness some new trends in the future – increased demand for natural fibers, shifting focus towards non-woven fabrics to name a few.
Indian textiles industry’s has immense potential to register an indelible mark while contributing to the growth and success story of the nation but the sector needs more support from government like policy initiatives, crackdown on red-tapism involved in availing schemes meant for the textile industry. In Union Budget 2021-22, PM Narendra Modi-led government had announced the setting up of 7 mega textile parks in the next three years.
Moreover, Centre also took the decision to rationalise the duties on raw material inputs. But, more export promotion policies are required for the textiles sector, where like in the past, the Central Government allowed 100% FDI in the sector under the automatic route.
The Indian textile industry is entering into a no-holds-barred kind of phase where the sky is the limit — provided the sector gets a robust support from the government in terms of policies, promotions and incentives so that the domain can move up the ladder and chart its own course in the right direction.
