The Indian textile industry should cheer up now. Though the modalities of how the Rs 6,000-crore bonanza, announced by the Modi Government for the textile industry, will take shape, there are enough hints that in a very few months, proper steps will be revealed. Murmurs of dissatisfaction are fading away, and the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFs) seems to have got the nod of approval from the industry. Many companies are in the process of expansion and diversification. It is also heartening to see various States wooing entrepreneurs with textiles as one of the priority avenues. There is also a revival of traditional industries like handlooms, and measures to make it modern and acceptable to changing tastes and times. At this juncture, it is appropriate that the six-day event, 10th edition of India-ITME opens in Mumbai on December 3.
The expectations are running high! Exhibitors who launched their latest textile machinery and accessories last year at ITMA Milan, and very recently at the ITMA Asia, are euphoric about the Indian market. Most of the European technology providers are confident that India is poised to elbow out China soon, may be in the next decade as No. 1 textile exporter! If the Indian industry just doubles its textile trade share from 4 per cent, that alone will be a big achievement. New hopes have sprung up seeing some of the big players firming up plans for expansion and entry into new areas like technical textile. It should be clear by 2020 whether the Indian textile dreams will be realised or not. The time is ripe for action, and it should rightly begin from the Bombay Exhibition Centre, where the six-day ITME drama will be enacted, with 1,050 exhibitors hoping to lure 1,50,000 visitors.