Recently, Chinese investors were wooed to invest in India’s promising textile sector at a half-day seminar on “Investing in India’s Textile Sector” in Shanghai.
The seminar was well received by the delegates, a top Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council of India (TEXPROCIL) official told fibre2fashion.
TEXPROCIL in association with China National Textiles and Apparel Council (CNTAC) and the Indian Embassy in China hosted the seminar which was attended by around 80 Chinese delegates from the Chinese textile and garment industry.
“The main idea behind hosting the seminar was to showcase Indian textile sector as an investment destination, as we would like to see more of finished goods being exported from India, rather than just cotton, yarn or fabrics”, Mr Siddhartha Rajagopal- Executive Director at TEXPROCIL said.
He added, “Secondly, since costs are going up in China and the Chinese are looking for other overseas destinations, we wanted to showcase the Indian textile and clothing industry as an ideal location to invest in. We shared the textile policy initiatives of the Central as well as of various state governments.”
On any commitments, Mr Rajagopal informed, “An investment decision is a long drawn process and cannot be taken immediately. They will study the presentations and then take appropriate decisions. However, I am sure Chinese investments will flow in and we welcome investments in finished goods like home textiles, apparels, etc”.
The seminar urged the Chinese investors to take advantage of the projected growth of Indian textile industry which is expected to reach US $220 billion by 2020, which will require additional investment of around US $68 billion in the entire textile supply chain.
Mr Rajagopal averred, “India has a huge trade deficit with China and textiles and clothing sector is the one industry which can help bridge the deficit. If the Chinese invest in India, the finished goods will be exported back to China or other countries, which will help reduce the deficit”.
