Rakesh Mehra: The introduction of a new tax regime is expected to increase disposable incomes
Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) welcomes the Union Budget 2025-26 which reflects the Government’s commitment to strengthening India’s textile and apparel sector. The budget witnessed the textile allocation increased significantly by 57.7 per cent for 2025-26 compared to the revised budget of 2024-25. It is majorly due to increased allocation of Rs 11.48 billion under the PLI scheme for the current year.
Rakesh Mehra, Chairman, CITI, thanked the Government for considering the long pending demand of industry and announcing the Mission for Cotton Productivity which will facilitate significant improvements in productivity and sustainability of cotton farming, and promote extra long staple cotton varieties. “It will not only address the industry’s concern of declining cotton productivity but will also reduce our dependency on imports for specialised varieties of cotton like ELS” he added.
He also commended the Government’s approach and said that the budget is aimed at a globally competitive and technology-driven textile sector. Various other Government initiatives like the revision of tariff items on knitted fabric categories to boost domestic industry, exemption of 2 more shuttle less looms from BCD to support technical textile industry, setting up of Export Promotion Mission, etc. will accelerate the sector’s growth towards a US$ 350 bn market size by 2030.
“It is heartening to note that the Government has a special focus on MSMEs, which account for more than 45 per cent of our exports. Indian T&A industry also is majorly MSME-driven. The enhanced credit availability with guaranteed cover for MSMEs will definitely boost the confidence of MSMEs, however, the textile industry has been requesting a mix of an upfront capital subsidy and performance-based incentive scheme, especially for the MSME and such a scheme is needed for the targeted growth in this sector” cited Mehra.
The introduction of a new tax regime is expected to increase disposable incomes, thereby enhancing domestic consumption of textile and apparel products. Mehra emphasized that higher purchasing power will drive demand across various textile segments, benefiting both small and large industry players.
CITI remains optimistic that import-related relaxations, particularly the extended timelines for end-use compliance, will also be extended to products covered under Quality Control Orders (QCOs). This will help streamline supply chains and improve operational efficiency for the textile value chain.
