Indian textile, apparel industry to be $141 bn by ’21

The Indian textile and apparel market size was estimated to be Rs 2,73,000 crores ($58 billion) in 2011 and is projected to grow at per cent CAGR to Rs 6,64,000 crores ($141 billion) by 2021, says the latest Technopak study ‘Textile and Apparel

Compendium 2012’. The global textile and apparel trade by the next decade will be worth $662 billion by then clocking in a CAGR of 5 per cent. The study was launched at the 8th Technopak Leadership Forum on Fashion-Textiles and Apparel held in Mumbai recently. The event saw the who’s who of the textile and fashion industry sharing their expertise in panel discussions on various issues related to the industry. The panellists and speakers included: Bashir Ali Mohammad, President-ITMF & Chairman- Gul Ahmed Textiles Mill, Dilip Jiwrajka, MD, Alok Industries; S K Gupta, Group CEO Raymond UCO Denim, Rakesh Biyani, Joint MD, Pantaloon Retail, Ashish Dikshit, CEO, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, Shailesh Chaturvedi, MD & CEO, Tommy Hilfiger to name a few

Speaking exclusively on the sidelines of the forum, Arvind K Singhal, Chairman, Technopak Advisors said, “The Indian textile and apparel industry is just like India with great potential that remains untapped. Indian exports could grow to $80 billion and the domestic industry is likely to grow to $140 billion by 2020. So the whole industry could grow to $220 billion in future.” Although dominated by men’s wear, India's domestic market would see a growing share of women’s and kids’ wear over the decade. Men's share in the basket would drop to 40 per cent from 43 per cent, the report indicates.

Some sectors like denim, women’s western wear, according to Singhal will grow faster than others. “The growth will be fuelled by population growth. And India’s demographics are in favour. Younger people tend to spend on fashion. And above all the economy is growing. Gautam Chakravarti, Director and CEO of Gokaldas Exports feels, in the future there is going to be consolidation in Indian industry, bigger players and very small players will survive. Mid level players are facing difficulty. They can choose to grow or become smaller. Indian industry has to look for new markets. US and Europe alone won’t suffice. “Domestic apparel retail will start playing an important part. Earlier exporters used to consider this as a residual business. Now this is a distinctive segment they have to tap.”

Darley Koshy, Director General and CEO, Institute of Apparel Management pointed out that there has to be a convergence in the apparel industry. “Manufacturing knowledge is with the export industry and marketing and branding knowledge is with the retail industry. Similarly yarn fabrics and processing sectors don’t have enough conversation with garment makers and retailers and they are still looking at selling the traditional way. So the integration of the supply chain from fiber to fashion, between retail and export, between domestic and export will be the key to competitive advantage in the next 10 years.” Expressing his views on business forward, Singhal said the forthcoming festive/winter season could bring hopes back to apparel retail, however, he advised the industry to take a cautious decision on growth plans. “Talk to your analysts, talk to your investors. Decide to grow only by 10 per cent and not 20 per cent. If stock prices come down, it doesn’t matter but have realistic targets. Also define your customer base so that you reduce the complexity of your business.”

The Technopak Leadership Forum is a conference for various sectors relevant to Technopak, like, fashion, textile and apparel, retail, healthcare and so on. Technopak is India’s leading management consulting firm with more than 20 years of experience in working with organizations across consumer goods and services.