After the recent announcement of a ‘special package’ for the apparel export industry by the Ministry of Textiles, stakeholders in made-ups and home textiles segment are also lobbying for a similar package. The move was clearly noticed at a recent event of Texprocil (The Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council) in Mumbai, where a study report “Textile Industry as a vehicle of job creation for inclusive growth” by Texprocil and Ernst & Young was released.
According to the report, India has already lost market share in EU in 37 items including home textiles to Pakistan in the year 2015-16. With a tariff disadvantage of 9.6% to 12% on home textiles, several importers in EU opt to import from Pakistan and Bangladesh rather than from India, thereby causing a huge loss of business to Indian exporters in this high-volume market. In this scenario, home textiles segment really needs support, argued the officials of Texprocil. The report further says that home textiles is also equally labour-intensive as garments. The process is the same, adding value after cutting the fabric and using trims in the manufacturing of finished products. On the other hand, SIMA (The Southern India Textile Mills’ Association) too demanded for the same. The industry can expect some positive outcome as Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, assured the gathering during the event that a special package for employment generation & promotion of made-ups & home textiles will be included in the forthcoming Textile Policy.
“The made-ups sector is also as important as the garment sector as it is both labour-intensive and also creates many jobs, especially for women. The home textiles segment is significant as it not only creates jobs but also fosters demand for downstream products like yarns and fabrics. The draft Textile Policy will soon be placed before the cabinet and the home textiles sector can also look forward to a package similar to what is extended to the apparel sector.” – Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles
The study says that home textiles industry equally suffers the tariff disadvantage of 9.6 per cent to 16 per cent in countries like EU and Canada, thereby losing business to other competing countries and hence the home textiles segment should be treated at par with apparel segment of the value chain. R K Dalmia, Chairman, Texprocil, who is also Senior President of Century Textiles, (Division at Century Textiles & Industries Ltd.) stated that this study was done by conducting primary research in various production centres and also by one-on-one meetings with manufacturers and exporters of fabric and home textiles in small, medium and large scale sectors. He emphasized that the present apparel special package benefit should be extended to home textiles sector immediately so that the two packages are implemented simultaneously. This will not only lead to substantial increase in employment in rural India but also augment export of home textiles products.
Anurag Malik, Partner EY (Skill Development) adds that in reality, manufacture of products such as bed linen is more labour-intensive than garments because of requirement of twice the manpower per piece for handling the large size of the products. Pending the finalization of EU-India FTA, to check the sliding business volumes with EU, in particular home textiles, it is appropriate to treat all the ‘cut and sew’ products (including home textiles and made-ups) for granting additional export incentives at par with apparel products. “Home textiles is one of the very important product group in the export basket of India, with a total export of US $ 7,818 million in the year 2015-16, of which export to EU account for US $ 2,061 million (26% of home textiles export). EU as a combined market is the single largest destination for export of home textiles from India,” he added.
Home textiles lobby claims that if one stitching machine in garmenting generates 2 to 2.5 jobs, made-ups/home textiles machine generates 2.5 to 3 jobs. A bulk volume of made-ups/home textiles items are produced out of cotton waste generated by spinning mills with very high value addition.
Does the home textiles industry require the same kind of package or it has some different needs is a question many are asking. M. Senthilkumar, Chairman, SIMA adding his perspective says, “We are in favour of covering home textiles segment also under the same ‘special package’. Processes and technologies required for made-ups/home textiles fabric manufacturing are capital-intensive, and therefore, only limited facilities are available and the made-ups/home textiles manufacturers pay much higher conversion charges for the fabric when compared to the apparel manufacturers. Home textiles segment generate 20 per cent higher employment and yield better value addition when compared to garmenting. We are asking to increase the capital subsidy under A-TUFS from 10 to 25 per cent for weaving and processing segment which is predominantly in the decentralized sector and completely connected to home textiles. “SIMA had earlier sent representation to the ex-Textiles Minister, Santosh Kumar Gangwar.
‘Special Package’ for Apparel Industry has created a positive sentiment in the entire
supply chain and home textiles companies too are positive.
Panipat, is another big hub for home textiles that thinks on the same line as Ramesh Verma, President of various home textiles-related associations in the city says, “This package is good enough and we just want that the home furnishing industry should be included in this. As we are similar to garment manufacturers in most ways, we too deserve same treatment.”
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
