Textile Industry & Market Growth in India

Total FDI inflows in the textiles sector stood at Rs. 43,363 crore (US$ 4.8 billion) between April 2000-June 2025.

The textile sector has witnessed a spurt in investment during the last five years.

• On November 26, 2025, the successful Khadi Expo in Lucknow highlighted India’s growing stature in traditional textiles as government-supported initiatives boosted visibility, demand and global appeal of khadi products.
• Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Piyush Goyal, emphasised that the India-United Kingdom (UK) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) opens transformative opportunities for well-established sectors of India such as textiles, leather, and footwear sectors, enhancing competitiveness and visibility in the UK market.
• The India-UK FTA, offers duty-free access to 99% of goods, boosting India's competitiveness. It is expected to benefit labor-intensive sectors like home textiles, which currently face a 12% UK tariff. India could double its home textiles market share in the UK within three years. Last year, India exported US$ 1.2 billion in garments, ranking among the top four suppliers to the UK.
• The India-UK Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) is expected to boost India's technical textile exports to the UK to US$ 1 billion by 2030, from the current US$ 240 million. The agreement grants 100% duty-free access for Indian exports, giving India a competitive advantage over China. Manmade Fibre and Technical Textiles Export Promotion Council (MATEXIL) will provide support to help Indian exporters capitalize on the opportunities.
• India is actively pursuing diversification of its textile export markets, including engagement with the European Union and other emerging economies, in response to global trade challenges such as recent tariffs imposed by the US.
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) is implementing a special cotton project under the National Food Security and Nutrition Mission across eight major states from FY24 to FY26. The project promotes best practices to boost cotton productivity, with a total outlay of Rs. 6.03 crore (US$ 698,614).
• In July 2025, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi highlighted the strong growth of India's textile and apparel sector, driven by diverse contributors including rural women, designers, and start-ups. With over 3,000 textile start-ups, the sector is boosting India's global handloom identity. He called it key to Atmanirbhar Bharat and urged support for Indian-made products to achieve the 2047 development vision.
• The center has approved four start-ups with a grant of approx. Rs. 50 Lakhs (US$ 58,568), each, under the ‘Grant for Research & Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT)’ scheme. The approved start-up projects are focused on key strategic areas of medical textiles, industrial textiles and protective textiles.
• The committee has also approved a grant of approx. Rs. 6.5 crore (US$ 761,392) to three education institutes to introduce courses in technical textiles under the ‘General Guidelines for Enabling of Academic Institutes in Technical Textiles’.
• The Textile Ministry’s allocation increases by 19%, rising from Rs. 4,417.03 crore (US$ 512 million) in 2024-25 to Rs. 5,272 crore (US$ 611 million) in 2025-26, reflecting the government’s commitment to addressing long-standing challenges and unlocking new growth opportunities.
• The Union Budget 2025-26 allocates Rs. 1,148 crore (US$ 133.1 million) for the PLI Scheme to boost domestic manufacturing and exports, and Rs. 635 crore (US$ 73.6 million) for the Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme to modernize textile machinery.
• Sutlej Textiles plans to set up a green field project for 89,184 spindles comprising cotton mélange yarn and PC grey yarn along with a dye house in Jammu & Kashmir with an estimated cost of US$ 111.41 million (Rs. 914 crore).
• Vardhman has established Vardhman ReNova, a cotton recycling facility with a six TPD production capacity. By establishing two new facilities in Madhya Pradesh, the company has also increased its capacity to produce yarn. With top-notch technology, the expansion includes over 100,000 spindles in total. This will result in a 75 TPD increase in yarn production capacity.
• The textile ministry has selected 61 companies, including Arvind Limited to enjoy benefits under its US$ 1.3 billion (Rs. 10,683 crore) production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the labour-intensive textiles and garment sector. The companies have pledged to invest US$ 2.32 billion (Rs 19,077) crore over five years under the scheme, which will lead to an incremental turnover of US$ 22.55 billion (Rs 1.85 trillion) and direct employment generation for 240,000 people.
• Arvind Limited, the largest textile-to-technology conglomerate in India, and PurFi Global LLC, a sustainable technology firm that specializes in rejuvenating textile waste into virgin-grade products, have formed a joint venture to reduce the quantity of textile waste dumped in landfills.
• Between FY23 and FY25, under the SAMARTH scheme, a total of 3,19,887 beneficiaries have completed training, out of which 2,73,681 have been placed. Among these beneficiaries, 26.70% belong to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 12.50% to Scheduled Tribes (ST).