Mukesh Bansal, a fabric marketing expert, is completing three decades with the company, and as a senior management official, he is a keen observer of national and international developments taking place and their impact on the industry and keeps a tab on the ups and downs of the industry at all levels. Apparel Resources (AR) met him during Textrum to understand why he thinks that the textile industry has a bright future ahead.
AR: Why do you think that the Indian textile and apparel industry has a bright future ahead?
Mukesh: Look for yourself, the Government is actively supporting the industry, be it with schemes like PLI, PM MITRA, Make in India and overall thrust on improved infrastructure etc. And there is impact of the Government’s decisions on the ground level also. Like 61 companies have been approved under PLI scheme and there are discussions about PLI 2 for textiles.
Similarly, seven leading states, that have a larger focus on textiles, have been announced for PM MITRA scheme. These are big schemes and will have a long-term positive impact on our industry. ‘Make in India’ is already showing impressive results.
It shows that the Government is now determined to bring in some systemic changes which were always required in the industry rather than having to settle for short-term incentivisation or some subsidisation.
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Of course, the Government has always been announcing various schemes but the conviction with which the present Government commands excellence in the execution of such schemes is indeed remarkable.
Similarly, if you see in the last 10 years, there has been the implementation of GST, the removal of interstate barriers, the infrastructure built-up and special schemes for regional warehouses which may seem minor but have brought in major changes for the better. These kinds of changes were always required in the industry and are happening now.
India’s GST collections are robust which indicates our economy’s positivity besides an affluent middle class who are growing with each coming day. Not to forget the foray of international brands into India and many of them performing phenomenally well. Now look at the large format retailers – we never had them 10 years ago. So I am a firm believer in India’s growth story.
Coming to the vision of reaching US $ 350 billion by 2030, we need to set a standard benchmark to achieve within a specified period and it requires a lot of investment from the private sector also. With all the above-mentioned and other initiatives, India’s textile and apparel export as well as the domestic market are bound to grow. We at Vardhman are continuously looking for opportunities and have set our goals to achieve double-digit growth with new products and new manufacturing set-ups.
AR: Globally various developments have happened. How do you see the impacts of these developments on India’s textile industry?
Mukesh: Overall, the Indian textile demand is governed by domestic consumption, and at the same time, export is also highly significant. So whatever changes happen in the world, we are not insulated from that. But ultimately, the global business has to grow and that gives us the confidence and positivity to carry along.
The last few years have seen supply chain disruption and various challenges but now in the next 4 to 5 years, I think a new balance will emerge. At one point in time, China was the factory to the world but now that sentiments are changing, the players in India and globally stand a better chance to succeed in the global arena. I would say that now we have immense growth opportunities.
Opportunities are lying ahead with China plus one being there, a stable Government and the people in the US and Europe seeing India as a sourcing hub. Now the Government is responding and the private sector also has to respond in tandem.
The next 10 years are going to be great for the Indian subcontinent’s textile operations. It is only a matter of time before the situation starts improving in three months or six months or one year. But at a macro-level, in the long term, we are set to see very good progress.
In our event Textrum, our team met senior officials of more than 60 companies including national and international brands, and retailers from across India and a few from other countries also. And all of them were bullish about business, sourcing from India and their operations within India.
So, I don’t see any reason or apprehension regarding India’s growth in the textile and apparel industry.
