India must embrace synthetics to boost textile exports: GTRI
Says reliance on cotton leads to low exports, wages, and investments in the sector
Delhi: The developed countries are buying clothing made up of mixed synthetics and the Indian apparel industry is weak on that front, leading to a decline in global exports share, a report by GTRI said on Tuesday.
The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that due to weak synthetics, India’s apparel industry is a horse running with one leg tied. “The results are low exports, low wages, and low investments in the sector,” it said, adding that synthetics have overtaken cotton and become favourite of the fashion industry.
“70 per cent of clothing bought by developed countries is made of mixed synthetics. Their share in Indian exports is less than 40 per cent and this is the key reason for India’s weak garment exports, the report said. It added that today, most formal, sports and fashion wear uses synthetic fabrics. They are durable, do not fade, and can have any colour besides easy blending with wool, cotton, or rubber allows experimentation.
Explaining it further, the report said that globally cotton dominates spring and summer sales seasons, while synthetics and blends dominate autumn and winter seasons. Indian units run six months a year to produce cotton apparel.
