India is the world's largest producer of jute. It ranks second in cotton, cotton yarn, silk and cellulosic fibers. At one level this abundant supply of raw materials gives India the competitive advantage but the fundamental problem is price volatility.
The price of cotton soared from 80 cents to USD 2 per candy in the last two years. Likewise the price of polyester rose astronomically with crude oil price hitting 30 month high.
The governments move to encourage the use of BT cotton has seen output growing dramatically. It is expected to touch 375 lakh bales in 2013-14.
In the case of polyester the need of the hour is to increase the production of manmade fiber and yarn including specialty and high tenacity fibers and yarn.
Besides fibers the other problem plaguing the industry is imports of inputs like zips, buttons and hangers. The need of the hour is to encourage indigenous production of these materials so that the apparel export manufacturers are not import dependent.
The government of the day is seized of this matter and is making efforts to ensure that raw material costs, its volatility and supply chain problems are addressed so as to make Indian textile manufacturers globally competitive.
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