Survey of 102 senior industry participants at Bharat Tex 2026 finds 92per cent optimistic on the 3–4 year outlook and 94 per cent positive on FTAs, but conviction on the export target and readiness for EU compliance rules well behind.
Indian textile and apparel companies are considerably more confident about the next three to four years than they are about the export target the government has set for them. That is the central finding of the Indian Textile and Apparel Industry Sentiment Barometer released by Wazir Advisors, based on structured conversations with 102 senior industry participants during Bharat Tex 2026 in New Delhi.
92 per cent of respondents said they were optimistic about the sector’s prospects over the next three to four years. Yarn and apparel manufacturers were unanimously positive. Respondents attributed this to structural rather than cyclical factors, pointing to supply chain diversification away from China and the shift in global sourcing patterns as durable changes they expect to benefit from.
On the $100 Bn export target, the industry stands very differently. Only 42 per cent consider it achievable by FY31, while 34 per cent think it unlikely. Last few years’ numbers explains the scepticism. With FY26 textile and apparel exports at approximately $36 Bn, reaching $100 Bn by FY31 requires compound annual growth of about 23%, sustained for five consecutive years, from a base that grew under 2 per cent last year.
“The industry has rarely been this confident and this unconvinced at the same time,” said Varun Vaid, Executive Director at Wazir Advisors. “92 per cent expect a strong three to four years, but only 42 per cent believe $100 billion is reachable by FY31, and fewer than half think the industry is ready for what the EU is about to ask of it. That tells us how the constraints have moved. Market access was the old problem and the FTAs have or will largely fixed it. What decides the next five years is execution: infrastructure that actually gets commissioned, and traceability and reporting systems in place before ESPR and Digital Product Passport rules start determining who stays on buyer panels. That window is about two years wide.”
Sustainability readiness is where the survey found the widest gap between ambition and capability. 47 per cent of respondents consider the industry well or fully prepared for evolving global sustainability and compliance requirements. 17 per cent described the industry as only slightly prepared. The EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and Digital Product Passport rules for textiles take effect in 2027 and 2028, which places the compliance deadline inside the same window in which the industry expects its FTA gains to materialise. Wazir’s assessment is that this becomes a market-access risk rather than a reporting inconvenience.
Sentiment on trade agreements was the strongest reading in the study. 94 per cent of respondents expect recent and upcoming FTAs to have a positive effect on their business, and the survey was conducted in the same week that the India-UK CETA came into force on 15 July. The India-EU FTA is expected to be operational by early 2027. Investment intent tracks this optimism: 77 per cent of companies plan to increase investmen
t over the next 12 to 18 months, and respondents increasingly linked capital plans to expected FTA-driven demand rather than to current order books alone. 80 per cent said the present policy environment supports growth, citing PLI, PM MITRA and improving market access.
Read on a single comparable scale, FTA advantage scores highest among the six pillars at +60, followed by industry outlook at +55, policy environment at +47 and investment appetite at +43. Sustainability readiness sits at +17. Conviction on the $100 Bn export target is the weakest reading at +6, effectively neutral.
Wazir’s view is that the access and the credibility to scale India’s export base are now both in place, and that the variable that remains is execution.