Subhash Desai, a leader of Shiv Sena, took charge as the Cabinet Minister of Industries after the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance grabbed the power in Maharashtra on December 5, 2014. He is a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council elected from Mumbai.

Trade encouragement policies of the western countries, availability of cheap labour and low energy costs have provided Bangladesh with huge potential in the global clothing market, especially in EU and the US, feel Rakesh Kumar Goyal and Dr RP Agarwal

Some States have upped their ante in textiles, declaring it a ´sunrise industry´ and by improving infrastructure and policies, they promise to lend a helping hand to the Indian Government´s efforts to carve out a bigger slice in global textile trade. Joseph S and Karthik M recount the story with details.

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, has announced the initial programme for the debut HYGIENIX, a premier event for the absorbent hygiene and personal care markets, which will be held between October 26-29 at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Techtextil and Texprocess, the two leading international trade fairs, show the world´s biggest spectrum of materials, processes and technologies for the entire textile value chain. This year´s show attracted around 42,000 visitors from 116 countries, whereas attendance increased by about 6 per cent in comparison to the previous show in 2013.

The Indian textile industry has been very dynamic & the stakeholders of the supply chain especially the colourists have to tackle a huge range of issues daily. The most challenging one is to make ´cleaner products´ of expected quality and at a competitive price.

Since the last ITMA edition, the global textile and garment industry has made rapid strides and evolved tremendously with technological innovations. And 2015 being the Year of Sustainability, the organisers have done well to make this as the main theme ´ Master the Art of Sustainable Innovation.

In Maharashtra, after the declaration of State Textile Policy, a total of 769 projects with investment of Rs 6,690 crore have been established. The investment have come predominantly into the developed textile machinery of spinning and weaving sector.

Shipments in most of the textile machinery segments experienced declines in 2014. Deliveries of new short-staple spindles fell by 15 per cent from 2013 to 2014. Shipped long-staple spindles and open-end rotors increased by 70 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.