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Interview |
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Interview with Mr. Siddhartha Rajagopal
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| Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council is a very important body of textile industry in India. It promotes export of cotton products from India. It is a sponsored body of the government of India. Siddhartha Rajagopal is the executive director of Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council. In an interview with senior reporter Binod Singh he discussed his views on the present scenario of the textile industry in India. Mr. Rajagopal is confident that the future of Indian textile industry is bright. |
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| Q: |
Where does India stand at the global competition in textile sector? |
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India stands among few of the prime textile producers in the world. In year 2008 India has been the sixth textile producer of the world. In export of cotton textiles India is the third largest in the world after China and Hong Kong. India is the secfond largest exporter of yarn in the world. She contributes 18% of the global yarn export. There are 25 countries in the world where Indian exporters stand to be the number one supplier. As regards size, India exports worth $ 21 billions. Its domestic market is worth $ 35 billions. Textile sector is the second largest employment generator after agriculture. The sector contributes 4% in the GDP of the country. It contributes 14% of the industrial production of the country. |
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| Q: |
What is the condition of the domestic market of textiles in India? |
| Ans: |
The condition of India' domestic textile market is very good. In is growing at the rate of 8% per annum. |
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| Q: |
What was the effect of recession on the textile industry? |
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Fortunately we remained insulated during the world wide recession. The growth of the GDP is taking place at the rate of 6.4%. It means that the growth is taking place well, and it is good sign after all. |
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| Q: |
What are the problems in the way of progress of Indian textiles? |
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The main problem in the way of progress of Indian textiles is that there is no integrated development scheme. Spinning has become modern. Weaving is still going on in primitive way by primitive machines with technology. The garment sub-sector is going fast. These all sub-sectors of textiles should be realigned. There is a need of modernization.
The second obstacle in the way of progress of Indian textiles is international trade, price and tariff system. Many countries, like Bungladesh, avail special privileged category. They get rebates and concessions. We do not get them. Our competitive advantage has become blunt. There has been 5 to 7 % drop in the demand of our product.
In USA and EU, the demand of our product has fallen by 18%. The cost of cotton has risen in our country. In the same way the price of electricity has also risen. Moreover, the levy we pay, we seldom get the return of that.
In our country the situation is not favourable for the diversification of the base products. Cotton is brought from Gujarat to South India for processing. It causes higher expense on transportation. Transportation on trucks is far more expensive than that by sea route. But there is restriction on transportation for domestic purposes.
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| Q: |
What is the scope of improvement of Indian textiles? |
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There is great scope of improvement. There is also a great need of improvement. And at the same time efforts are on for the improvement. The national fiber policy is on evil. Within three month it is likely to come out. It will improve and benefit. If there will be good raw material there will be good finished product. Quality of product will improve.
Players should be given rebate which are proposed and provided. Generally we do not get them.There is a need to improve power sector and infrastructure. There is need of modernization in technology. |
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| Q: |
How far are you hopeful by the textile of India? |
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There will be betterment ahead. There will be improvement. I expect things to improve. There have been many improvements by now. Hence there will be further improvement in future.
In our country all the aspects are favourable in the favour of growth of textiles. There is an old tradition of textiles. We have technology. We have culture of textiles.
Our traditional weavers have been weaving since ancient times. We have factories. We have trend of production. We have everything that we need for the better future for textiles. I am hopeful, we will play good.
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