Weaving Sustainability into the DNA of Textile Industry

The average lead time in manufacturing and delivery sums to around 45 to 65 days from fabric buying to shipment of apparel. How can this be reduced?

There are different segments in the entire value chain of textile production. Starting with raw material sourcing to spinning, weaving, dyeing, finishing and sewing, a textile generally passes through different stages of production. That being said, in India, these operations are largely performed in a standalone form and there are a handful of players who have integrated their entire operations. This in turn largely increases the turnaround time, as goods take longer time to travel from one point to another.

Secondly, most of the Indian manufacturers operate in a B2B format, following the made-to-order production approach. This makes the manufacturers largely dependent on changing requirements, wherein they have to constantly check with multiple factors like, fabric type, dyeing process, design, sewing, export, etc. This further elongates the overall process of textile production.

To overcome this situation, Indian manufacturers are now slowly transcending towards having a more of a branded approach. With a move towards the B2C model, the producers are looking forward to consolidating the supply chain, ensuring quick turnaround time. Moreover, with increased adoption of technology and digitization, shorter lead time will be a much attainable game.

Environmental compliance often isn’t at the top of textile and garment importers’ concerns. How is the industry working to establish sustainable practices in the operation line?

Sustainability has now become the DNA of the textile industry as any changes over the present climatic condition will incur a direct effect on the supply chain of the raw materials. Hence, manufacturers are now playing an active role in ensuring that sustainability and green practices are instituted right from the raw materials manufacturing stage. They are constantly collaborating with the farmers to educate them on the use of fertilisers and pesticides and other farming related factors. We can also note the industry transcending towards utilisation of organic cotton.

On the operational side, new regulations like zero liquid discharge, and more, are brought by the government to ensure no damage is done to the soil and surrounding environment. Today, many players are integrating effluent treatment plants to control its effluent and reuse the water for other operations. The industry is also investing on green power sources like - solar energy.

At Indo Count, we are also actively working on the sustainability end, and have released our first ESG report. We are now participating and registering ourselves with UNGC, CDP, SBTI, who perform a transparent assessment of a company’s operation and come out with a report available in the public domain. We are further participating in the SDP set out by the UN to put the right step forwards towards a sustainable future.

How do you see the textile industry of India developing in the future?

With rising labour costs in China, the country is losing its competitiveness in the global market, creating new opportunities for the Indian industry in the global domain. On the other hand, India is also actively working to evolve as a global textile manufacturing leader. Starting from new technology adoption to digitization and automation the nation’s textile industry is doing it all to create a robust position for itself.

These efforts are already bringing massive results for the nation. For example — In sheet export, India now has 60% market share in the US, and the country’s textile industry is growing at a 9% CAGR. Furthermore, the Government is also playing a crucial role in the overall development of the nation's textile industry. New schemes like — ROSCTL, interest equalisation scheme, PLI, textile mitra park, are all focusing to develop textile trade in the global arena. Moreover, FTA with countries like – Australia, UAE, UK, EU, Canada, will bring more demand for Indian goods.

Today, we see every textile company progressing in an active form. For example— within 15 years of our operations, we have evolved as the largest manufacturer of bed linen in the world with showrooms in more than 54 countries in the world. All these factors show that as a company and a country we are equally geared up to attain the goal of 100 billion export.