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Top1. Introduction
Textile industry is one of the oldest industries in Indian economy. It is a major part of India’s cultural heritage. It is world’s second largest producer and exporter of textiles and garments (Berwal, 2020). Because of profuse availability of fibres there is a broad scope for textile industry in India. Textile industry supplies in a plethora of fields like: Home textiles, defence, medical textiles, aero – space textiles, automotive textiles, agricultural textiles, construction, architecture, automotive shipping, apparel, chemical, mining etc (McCarthy, 2016) (Paul, 2019).Its contribution towards socio – economic goals in India e.g., - empowerment of women by fulfilling their economic needs and giving them financial independence providing livelihood to people in every region in India (Dixit and Lal, 2019). A summary of the role of apparel and textile industry in Indian economy can be seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Role of Indian Apparel and Textile Industry in Indian Economy
In a webinar conducted on “How Can Indian Textile Industry Reboot Its Business and Encash Upon Global Opportunities” (5th June 2020) an expert in Home Textiles Mr. Khandelia talks about how when countries like U.S.A. and European countries started relocating their textile industry because of high cost to India and other Asian countries, Indian Textile industry started thriving when it came to exports. As old as textile industry in India has been, the per capita consumption was very low. So, the exports really helped with the Indian economy (Vanchan, Mulhall, & Bryson, 2017). Even though compared to many countries India’s trade globally is not where the India Apparel industry aspires to be. One of the reasons is the lack of broader product basket (For example – performance wear, Formal Wear, Sportswear etc.) in fashion sector affecting India’s Global trade (Mukherjee & Chanda, 2016).
According to the (Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India) Indian textiles and apparel industry accounts for approximately 5% of the world’s total textile industry. The production of fibre, the yarn fabric and apparels, i.e., the entire supply chain gives India an advantage over other countries (Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India).
Another growing area, that is playing a vital role in the growth of economy in textiles in India, is Technical Textiles. The growth of technical textiles is directly proportional to the economic growth of our country (McCarthy, 2016). Technical textile is a field that did not suffer the negative impacts of the pandemic as much as the other sectors. Because of their contribution in Infrastructure Sector and the production of PPE’s and other protective gear for doctors in today’s time technical textiles actually saw an increase in the orders. Because of these this sector is considered essential. The end use of the product in this sector defines how rigorous and efficient the procedure of production has to be. The technical minutiae have to be just right, there can be no mistake as explained by (Zhao, Jiang, & Cao, 2020).In the wake of COVID-19 crisis, throughout the world industries have been immensely affected, and thus supply chain in textile industry is also being disturbed. Purpose of this study is to identify, study and analyse the effects of COVID-19 on Indian Apparel Industry supply chain, and prioritise the problems faced during this crisis, suggest measures to deal with them.