India has great textile tradition dating back to centuries with stories of the famous ‘Dacca muslin’ getting around the world in older times. India’s textile sector is one of the oldest also dating back to centuries. Today also the textile sector is one of the largest contributors to India’s exports. After the agriculture sector it is the second largest employer giving employment to nearly 45 million people. It contributes to nearly 14 per cent of the industrial production and 4 per cent share of the GDP of the country. These figures are enough to highlight the importance of this sector to the nation.

A chartered accountant by profession, Darshan Mehta, President of Reliance Brands, entered the fashion industry by chance. He joined the Lalbhai Group in 1984 as CEO and stayed with the Group for next 23 years, donning several hats across diverse businesses including CEO of Arvind Brands and others. In 2007, he set up Reliance Brands Ltd. RBL today has partnered with many international brands in the premium and luxury fashion and lifestyle space for the Indian market.

Despite India being cotton surplus, the industry is still struggling, opines Sanjay Jain, NITMA President & Deputy Chairman, NITRA. Cotton-based textiles has been the main stay of Indian textiles over decades. India is one of the few nations where textiles is still skewed in favour of cotton (60 per cent) as against the world where man made has a 60 per cent share while cotton is sub 40 per cent. One of the major reasons for this is our large cotton crop grown across 10 states.

The Indian textile and clothing industry is very old and plays a very important part in the Indian economy. Except China, no other nation can match the size, spread, depth and competitiveness of the Indian textile and clothing industry. Liberalisation also has given the much-needed push to the textile industry, which has now successfully become one of the largest in the world. It has a complete value chain from the production of raw materials to the manufacture of finished goods.

Reinforcing its commitment to Internet of Things, Services and People, ABB group appoints Guido Jouret, a pioneer of the Internet of Things, as Global Chief Digital Officer, reporting to ABB Group’s CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer, effective October 1, 2016. He will lead the next level of development and deployment of ABB Group’s digital solutions for customers globally and across all businesses.

Can India take its share of 4.5% in global textile trade to 9-10% by 2020? An ITJ Exclusive explores the dreams and realities. India is No. 2 in the global textile trade, next only to China. But the country?s share is a measly 4.5 per cent against the 45 per cent of China?s. The Indian textile and apparel industry was estimated to be worth Rs 6,25,930 crore in 2015 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9 per cent to reach Rs 9,35,123 crore, by 2020.

Competition, rising wage & power costs, and the low profile status of SSI are stifling the potentials of major textile centres in the northern India, find Manish Mittal and Dr Rajeev Johari, in a selective survey of three such centres of Amritsar, Ludhiana and Panipat. Indian textile industry contributes about 11 per cent to industrial production, 14 per cent to the manufacturing sector, 4 per cent to the GDP and 12 per cent to the country’s total export earnings.

Spinners are increasingly seeking to take control of the level of contamination in yarn. They need to meet customers’ quality demands exactly, using foolproof but flexible methods which also take account of mill efficiency, minimising waste and optimising productivity. This case study focuses on an Indian yarn manufacturer which originally invested in early-stage fibre cleaning in 2009, and has since upgraded to Total Contamination Control, combining the USTER® JOSSI VISION SHIELD and USTER® QUANTUM 3.

In 2015-16, technical textiles market reached Rs 92,499 crore, of which the agro-textiles share is Rs 1,191 crore, which reflects only 1 per cent of the total. But for a country like India, which thrives on an agricultural economy, the scope is immense. ?We have not even touched the surface of the market, and we have to penetrate deep and explore the potential.