Once again India is expected to miss its textile export target, as Government has admitted that it may be “hard to achieve” the US $ 48 billion target set for textiles and garment exports for 2016-17. Similarly, the overall exports of textiles and apparels from India during the previous FY 2015-16 was US $ 40 billion, falling way short of the US $ 47.5 billion target set for the period. Less demand in major markets such as the US and EU is being cited as the main reason to miss this target. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani admitted that the industry was off-course, elaborating upon measures being taken by the government to attain the goal. Industry too is unable to predict how much India can achieve in its exports this financial year. Ujwal R. Lahoti, Chairman, Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) told Apparel Resources, “Yes, target is really difficult, but we are expecting little better than last year.”
As far as apparel sector is concerned, MoT has the target of US$ 20 billion for the financial year 2016-17 while Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) had set target at US $ 18.75 billion for same fiscal against the probable performance of US$ 17 billion in the financial year 2015-16.
Also Read – AR Exclusive: MoT sets US$20 billion apparel export target for AEPC for 2016-17 fiscal
In another reply to questions raised in Parliament, the minister informed that total domestic consumption of cotton in the country is on the increase, and in cotton year (October-September) 2013-14, it was 299.55 lakh bales (170 kgs each), in 2014–15 it was 309.44 lakh bales while in 2015–16 the provisional figure is 312 lakh bales as estimated by Cotton Advisory Board (CAB). The consumption is likely to increase in the coming year too. The production and consumption of cotton as assessed by the CAB for the current cotton season 2016-17 (1st October, 2016 to 30th September, 2017) is 351 and 313 lakh bales, respectively.
