‘India has opportunities to tap into global textile market’

K.V. Srinivasan, 1st south Indian to head ITMF, discusses opportunities for Indian textile & apparel industry in international market.

India has huge opportunity to tap into the international textile and apparel market, said the newly-elected president of International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) K.V. Srinivasan.

Mr. Srinivasan, who is the first south Indian to head the international association, told presspersons here on Tuesday international buyers wanted to source more from countries other than China. This offered opportunities for Indian suppliers. However, the drop in demand globally and high inflation had hit the industry globally. Apart from this, in India, the demand was “surprisingly low for textiles” even during the festival season.

The scope to improve the competitiveness of the Indian industry was there in some segments, he added.

The ITMF organises annual three-day conference and also conducts a monthly survey involving stakeholders from the entire supply chain.

The Southern India Mills’ Association organised a felicitation function for Mr. Srinivasan on Tuesday and Christian P. Schindler, Director General of ITMF, made a virtual presentation on the long and short-term developments in the global textile industry. According to the November survey, majority of the participants said the current business situation was poor and they had optimistic expectations for the future, he said.