Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 6: The Union Finance Minister announced the Union Budget for 2025 on 1st February. Commenting on the Budget, Bhadresh Dodhia, Chairman, MATEXIL (Manmade and Technical Textiles Export Promotion Council), stated, "The Budget is Positive, Pragmatic, Growth-oriented and in line with contemporary requirements and is well-positioned to drive growth in the textiles sector."
One of the key highlights of the Budget is the revision of classification criteria for MSMEs, both in terms of investment and turnover. Dodhia pointed out that nearly 80% of the textiles sector operates within the MSME clusters, and this revision would empower these units to achieve scale, enhance competitiveness, and contribute significantly towards making India a global manufacturing hub for textiles.
Source: Business Standard
The Indian government is assessing the impact of US tariffs imposed on China and is consulting with industry representatives. India expects to benefit from increased US orders but is cautious about potential negative effects, including the risk of Chinese goods being dumped in the country due to excess capacity. The government is likely to discuss with industry representatives the impact of the US administration's recently announced tariffs on countries such as China.
In the April to November period of 2024-25, the US was India's second-largest trading partner with bilateral trade in goods standing at $82.52 billion ($52.89 billion worth of exports, $29.63 billion of imports and a $23.26-billion trade surplus). In 2021-24, America was India's largest trading partner.
Source: Economic Times
The government is set to introduce targeted measures to boost technology adoption in the MSME sector and overhaul the office of the development commission to meet global standards. Niti Aayog plans a research study to identify challenges and propose reforms to enhance tech penetration and streamline policy facilitation for MSMEs. The government will soon come up with targeted interventions to enhance technology adoption in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector and restructure the office of the development commission (DC), MSME apex body, to strengthen it and make the sector world-class. MSMEs contribute close to 41% towards India's total manufacturing GVA and the government feels that small and medium enterprises (SME) in India possess immense potential to become competitive enough to integrate themselves into both domestic and global value chains.
Source: Economic Times
India aims to reduce tariffs and phase out extra levies on imports as domestic manufacturing advances. Stakeholder consultations will be conducted to minimize custom duties without harming local industries. Recent budget changes included cutting import tariffs on various products, signifying India's efforts to overcome the 'tariff king' label. India will continue to bring down tariffs and phase out additional levies on imports as domestic manufacturing improves, a top finance ministry official said, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US.
Source: Economic Times
The government plans to set up Bharat Trade Net, a unified platform for trade documentation and financing solutions similar to UPI. This ambitious project aims to digitize trade documentation, streamline interactions among various agencies, and enhance access to export credits. The initiative may take 2-3 years to be fully operational. Proposed on the lines of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the platform will help in moving towards complete digitisation of the entire range of trade documentation and then allow seamless operability of different agencies which are involved in this, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Saranagi told reporters.
Source: Economic Times
India is working on a compromise proposal to resolve differences with the European Union on issues such as rules for determining the origin of goods, and thereby duty concessions as part of bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) talks. The proposal is being prepared for certain goods such as chemicals after considering the value chain of exported products and positions reflected in some of India's recent FTAs such as with the EFTA (European Free Trade Association). These rules are vital for checking any circumvention of FTA rules and flow of cheap imports into India. The tenth round of India-EU FTA negotiations is scheduled for March 10-15 in Brussels with both sides expected to look at bridging their differences on issues such as rules of origin and government procurement.
Source: Economic Times
India’s technical textile industry has witnessed expansion, becoming the fifth-largest market globally, accounting for 15 per cent of the country's overall textile and apparel market, as per Rubix Sectoral Report - Technical Textile January 2025. As of FY2024, the industry was valued at USD 29 billion, growing from USD 21.95 billion in FY2022 and USD 25.2 billion in FY2023. The sector has been growing at an annual rate of 8–10 per cent, with government initiatives aiming to accelerate this to 15–20 per cent over the next five years. The country has also become a net exporter of technical textiles since FY2021, with exports growing at a 5.3 per cent CAGR between FY2019 and FY2024, while imports declined at 1.7 per cent CAGR. However, challenges such as limited awareness, insufficient testing infrastructure and dependence on imported machinery continue to affect the sector’s growth potential.
Source: Business World
"We are also working on integrating sustainability as a key concept while promoting value-added products to position the state competitively in global markets. With these initiatives, Maharashtra is well-equipped to expand its leadership in India’s textile sector.”
“To bring ease of doing business to the investors, industrialists and small entrepreneurs in the textile sector, the Government of Maharashtra has launched the e-textile portal which provides end-to-end process automation from registration of units to subsidy disbursement. "We are also working on integrating sustainability as a key concept while promoting valueadded products to position the state competitively in global markets. With these initiatives, Maharashtra is well-equipped to expand its leadership in India’s textile sector.” This was stated by Sanjay Savkare, Minister of Textile, Government of Maharashtra, in conversation with Anoop Verma, Editor-News, ETGovernment.
Source: Manufacturing Economic Times
Stating that they have been guiding companies through the METAMORPHOSIS Project, carried out within the scope of the EU’s IPA projects, Pasahan said, “Although we have faced cyclical challenges over the past two years, we take a long-term perspective. Apparel will remain crucial for the Turkish economy for many years to come. With this awareness, we are establishing an infrastructure that will strengthen our position in global trade.”
The "From Design to Production: Digital Transformation in the Apparel Industry (METAMORPHOSIS)" Project, carried out by the Istanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB) under the EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA-2) program, has been completed. Speaking at the closing event of the project, which was implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Mustafa Pasahan stated that the apparel industry is among the leading sectors pioneering digital and green transformation.
Source: Fibre2fashion
Vietnam issued 1.8 million certificates of origin (COs) last year for $100 billion worth of goods exported to the countries and entities with which it has free trade agreements, according to the ministry of industry and trade (MoIT). CO is an important document that allows exporters to enjoy certain tax incentives and other preferential treatment.
Last year saw an increase of 18 per cent in the number of COs and a 28-per cent rise in export value year on year (YoY). The country’s total trade revenue was $786.29 billion last year—up by 15.4 per cent YoY, with a trade surplus of $24.77 billion, a news agency reported. Its exports expanded by 14.3 per cent YoY to $405.53 billion, while imports grew by 16.7 per cent YoY to $380.76 billion.
Source: Fibre2fashion
