The fibre specific configuration of the textile industry includes almost all types of textile fibres from natural fibres like cotton, jute, silk and wool to synthetic/man-made fibres like polyester, viscose , nylon, acrylic, polypropylene and the multiple blends of such fibres and filament yarns.

The diverse structure of the industry coupled with its close linkage with our ancient culture and tradition provides it with the unique capacity to produce, with the help of latest technological inputs and design capability, a wide variety of products suitable to the varying consumer tastes and preferences, both within the country and overseas.

It is perhaps the only industry in the Indian industrial arena which is self reliant and complete in value chain, i.e. from raw material to the highest value added products, i.e. garments/made-ups.

Substantial Contributions to the Economy:
The Indian textile industry has a significant presence in the Indian economy as well as in the international textile economy. Its contribution to the Indian economy is manifested in terms of its contribution to the industrial production, employment generation and foreign exchange earnings.

It provides direct employment to about 35 million persons including substantial segments of disadvantaged sections of the society and women. Besides, another 50 million people are engaged in allied and ancillary activities.

The industry has been growing at a steady rate of 9-10 percent. In the post quota period, the industry size has expanded from US$ 37 billion in 2004-05 to US$ 49 billion in 2006-07. In this period, while the domestic market increased from US$ 23 billion to US$ 30 billion, exports increased from around US$ 14 billion to US$ 19 billion. Being one of the largest of its kind in the world, the Indian textiles industry has inherent strengths that have the potential to increase its share substantially in the global trade of textiles and clothing.

1. Organized Cotton / Man-made Fibre Textiles Mill Industry: It is the largest manufacturing industry in the country in terms of employment with nearly 1 million workers and number of units. There are more than 1818 cotton / man-made fibre textiles mills (non-Small Scale Industry), with an installed capacity of 35.37 million spindles and 0.45 million rotors. The production of spun yarn stood at 3791 million kg during 2006-07.
   
   
2. Man-made Fibre / Filament Yarn Industry: The industry comprises fibre and filament yarn manufacturing units of cellulose and non-cellulose origin. The total man-made fibre production from April-August 2006, increased by 16 percent, as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. The total production of man-made filament yarn increased by 11 percent during 2006-07.
   
   
3. Decentralized Power-looms Sector: The decentralized power-looms sector plays a pivotal role in meeting the clothing needs of the country. The power-looms industry produces a wide variety of cloth, both grays as well as processed. There are over 1.95 million power-looms in the country that provide employment to nearly 4.86 million workers.
   
   
4. Wool and Woollen Textiles Industry: The woollen textiles industry is a rural-based, export oriented industry in which the organized sector, the decentralized sector and the rural sector complement each other. This industry provides employment to 2.7 million workers in a wide spectrum of activities. The country is the seventh largest producer of wool, and contributes 1.8 percent to total world production. The anticipated production of indigenous raw wool is estimated at 57.20 million kg. in 2006-07.
   
   
5. Jute & Jute Textiles Industry: The Jute industry occupies an important place in the national economy. Globally, India is the largest producer and the second largest exporter of jute goods. This sector supports the livelihood of about 4 million families. It provides direct and indirect employment to 400,000 workers. The production of jute is concentrated in 36 districts of West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh. There are 78 jute mills in the country. Of these, 61 are in West Bengal, three each in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, seven in Andhra Pradesh, and one each in Assam, Orissa, Tripura and Chhattisgarh. The ratio of domestic consumption to exports is 80:20.
   
   
6. Sericulture and Silk Textiles Industry: Globally India is the second largest producer of silk and contributes about 18 percent to the total world raw silk production. India has the unique distinction of being endowed with all the four varieties of silk, namely, Mulberry, Eri, Tasar, and Muga. Sericulture is one of the most important cottage industries and is practiced in approximately 54,000 villages throughout the country. Sericulture sector provides employment to about 6 million people, mainly in rural areas.
   
   
7. Handlooms Industry: The handloom sector is characterized by clusters. Indian handlooms are among our proudest and most enduring cultural heritage constituting a timeless facet of perhaps the oldest sectors within textiles industry. The outstanding weaving tradition they represent has been kept alive by skilled weavers from generation to generation. The handloom sector, therefore, reflects not only the traditions of the weaving communities all over India but also the socio-cultural heritage of our entire nation. To lend this segment the desired credibility, ‘Handloom Mark’ has been launched to provide a collective identity to Indian hand woven products as a hallmark of high quality and high creativity. The production of cloth by the handlooms sector was 6871 million sq. mtrs. in 2006-07.
   
   
8. Handicraft Industry including Carpets: The importance of handicrafts, in brief, can be said to be both cultural and economic. The sector at present provides employment to an estimated 6.4 million artisans, of which 47.42 percent are females. The strength of the Indian handicrafts industry is low capital investment, high ratio of value addition, negligible import content, wide raw material base and very high export potential.

Reaching out Globally:
The global Textiles and Clothing Industry constitutes a US$ 480 billion market which is expected to grow to about US$ 700 billion by the year 2012. Of this, India’s share in global trade accounts for 4 percent. The Indian textile industry has collectively embarked on a long-term mission to increase its global share of world textile trade to attain 10 percent by 2015, and of stepping up the rate of growth from 9-10 percent to 16 percent during the currency of the 11th Five Year Plan period.

While Europe continues to be India's major export market with 22 percent share in textiles and 43 percent in apparel, the USA is the single largest buyer of Indian textiles and apparel with 10 percent and 32.6 percent share respectively. Other significant countries in the export list include the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bangladesh, China, Turkey and Japan. The basket of Indian textile exports consists of wide range of items containing cotton yarn and fabrics, man-made yarn and fabrics, wool and silk fabrics, made-ups and variety of garments. Currently India has about 4 percent share in world export of textiles and 3 percent in clothing exports.

Readymade garments (RMG) are the largest export segment, accounting for 45 per cent of total textile exports and 8.2 per cent of India's total exports. Readymade garments exports from India are expected to touch US$ 14.5 billion by 2009-10 with a cumulative annual growth of 18 to 20 percent. India is the world leader in carpet exports with 36 percent of the global market share. Exports of carpets have increased from US$ 654.32 million in 2004-05 to US$ 930.69 million in 2006-07, showing a growth rate of 42.23 percent.

On Fast Forward Track to the Future:
There has been resurgence in the Indian Textile Industry in the post quota period. India is emerging as one of the major outsourcing hubs as it has comparative advantage over its competitors on availability of relatively inexpensive but skilled workforce, design expertise, a large production base of basic raw materials such as yarn & fabric, and availability of a wide range of textiles. The Industry is aiming at attracting investments of the order of Rs. 15,060 billion by 2012. This enhanced investment will generate additional 17 million jobs by 2012 comprising 12 million direct and 5 million indirect jobs.

The Government is implementing schemes like Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), Scheme for Integrated Textiles Park (SITP), Mill Gate Price Scheme (MGPS) and Technology Mission Schemes, viz., Technology Mission on Cotton (TMC) and Jute Technology Mission (JTM) to facilitate Indian textiles industry to grow at the rate of 16 percent in value terms to reach level of US$ 115 billion (comprising of US$ 55 billion of exports and US$ 60 billion of domestic market) and attain 7 percent share in global textile trade by the terminal year of the Eleventh Plan period.

Abiding with the norms of WTO and spirit of openness of global markets to competition; fiscal duty structure has been rationalized by doing away with the multiplicity of taxes, reduction in excise and customs duty, and by providing relief from maintaining excessive records under the excise regime. As a part of the overall policy of de-regulation and de-control, the Government of India has de-reserved the garments, hosiery and knitwear sectors from the Small Scale Industries sector to enable the industry to realize economies of scale. 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment has been allowed in the textile sector under the automatic route.