An International Economics degree holder, Rupak boasts of an illustrious career spanning over 28 years with numerous well-known textile and apparel companies in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt and USA.

Unlike countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos or Cambodia, the Indian textile industry is majorly driven by cotton. While we do have ample quantity of textile manufacturing units and skilled manpower to cater to global cotton products demand, the industry is still unorganized and needs a touch of professionalism, creativity and innovation to successfully tackle the competition from other supplier nations like China.

However, with the fashion industry now transitioning towards being a '12-Season' vertical that demands new trends & designs every single month, the textile sector in India is facing a major challenges in terms of the production timelines since it takes a lot of time to source the yarn from overseas, convert it into fabrics and make garments from it. Thus, it is paramount for the textile industry to strengthen their supply chains and have an efficient demand-supply prediction mechanism in place to ensure adequate stockpile of raw materials.

Cross-border Collaboration Driving Product Innovation
80 percent of the textile goods in any retails outlets are made from Indian fabrics which are cotton-rich. Despite being among the largest textile hubs in the world today, Indian garments majorly comprise of cotton or cotton blend yarns. Thus, the industry still has a long way to go in terms of producing specialty clothing such as sportswear, athleisure and others. As a result, there is an immediate need for the Indian textile companies to invest heavily in improving their product development process and introduce new blends & fabrics to broaden their product portfolio.

Additionally, the industry players in India must collaborate with topnotch foreign textile companies in terms of technology and knowledge sharing, and even bring the emerging trends from those modern markets into our country. This will also help the Indian textile industry to produce fashion garments that were never made in India earlier and thus compete with global brands.

Shift in Consumer Preference towards Green Products
With increased awareness about the importance of environmental sustainability among customers lately, we are witnessing consumer preference drastically shifting towards eco-friendly products. Customers today are increasingly cautious about the ecological impact of the products they use and are thus on the constant lookout for 100 percent green products. As a result, the textile manufacturing industry too is implementing sustainable practices across the entire production process, right from sourcing of natural raw materials to ensuring minimum or even zero water wastage and utilizing green energy sources across their entire production plant. In light of this, many sustainable companies reuse 95 percent of water within their own dye house and the remaining five percent which is in the form of sludge is burnt and converted into steam.

There is an immediate need for the Indian textile companies to invest heavily in improving their product development process and introduce new blends & fabrics to broaden their product portfolio.

Since chemicals play a pivotal role in textile manufacturing, the industry is investing a lot of efforts into innovation and R&D to come-up with new eco-friendly dyes that can be used for the coloring process in the coming days. Additionally, we are also seeing the industry gradually embrace sustainable fibers such as cellulose groups as the yarns in the production process. This way, the textile companies are not only contributing towards the well-being of our planet, but also creating a niche for themselves in the industry especially among the eco-conscious customer segment.

Future Prospects
Currently, the Indian textile industry is at a stagnant phase, wherein majority of the manufacturers are producing the same kind of products using same fabrics, blends & yarns and with age old production techniques. Thus, it is extremely critical for the industry to prioritize innovation, formulate new product development strategies and broaden their product catalog. Additionally, the textile industry must look for new avenues to leverage advancements in material science and develop garments made of new fabrics that are not only eco-friendly but also better than regular fabrics in every way. Further, technology implementation is expected to play a pivotal role in streamlining the entire operations, right from production to predicting future demand and effective inventory management.