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.

Indian textile industry is at a very important threshold from where it can move to a higher orbit of growth. It is well poised to create a much stronger footprint across the globe and more importantly meet the country’s inclusive growth objective by providing employment to the rural women. China—which controls 35 per cent of the global textile trade—is in the process of vacating space due to its high cost structure and no one is better placed than India to capture the opportunity we missed in the past.

Initially started by manufacturing a range of pins, Kolkata-based Bajaj Industries Pvt Ltd now has expanded its operation to the entire gamut of pins and pinned products as well as several other products. The company is currently engaged in manufacture of a range of textile pins, pinned products and textile machinery spares and accessories. Its customer range includes reputed textile mills, OEMs, and reseller’s across the globe.

?In technical textiles, we are doing something, but not enough. There is a long journey, but we have not even started it. We have just only 2200 units in technical textiles in this whole big country. Even in the nine textile research associations, which have been entrusted with the tasks of Centres of Excellence, not much has been done. We need a lot more efforts,? the first few sentences from the Textile Commissioner, Dr Kavita Gupta.

As Indian textile industry is an employment generating sector within the manufacturing portfolio, its position is very important in India’s mission on ‘Make in India’. It is very critical that there should be a concerted effort among different stakeholders such as the Government, industry, trade associations, central and state supported R&D laboratories, and academia to advance this sector to the next stage.