India's textile industry: Why is it behind in competing in exports?
India lags behind china, vietnam and bangladesh in exporting its clothes. The biggest reason for this is the high cost of manufacturing its goods. vietnam exported clothes worth 40 billion dollars in 2023. They are able to make cheap goods because their entire work is done at one place, that is, everything from thread to cloth is done together.
Cotton work is spread across different states in our country, due to which the cost of transporting the goods increases and it becomes difficult to work on a large scale. The Economic survey of 2024-25 also says that in india the work is not done at one place and the system is also entangled, which increases the cost. Whereas in China and vietnam, everything from thread to fashion is done at one place. Due to this, they are able to sell cheap goods, maintain good quality and work according to the fast-changing fashion.
Apart from this, countries like china, vietnam and bangladesh sell goods at cheaper rates by entering into free trade agreements with other countries. This leads to less tax on their goods. Customs rules are also easy in these countries, due to which goods are exported quickly and at a lower cost. Whereas those who export clothes here have to keep track of everything, such as how many centimeters of cloth, buttons and zippers are used.
The raw material for making man-made fiber (MMF) is also expensive in India. The government has banned the import of polyester and viscose fiber from abroad, so it has to be bought in our country itself, which is very expensive. According to CITI, in January, polyester fiber in our country was 33-36% more expensive than China and viscose fiber was 14-16% more expensive.
India's textile industry is strong, but it is facing some challenges to remain globally competitive. The government and the industry will have to solve these challenges together.
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