“Today the thrust area for textile industry is to increase production and employment opportunities in India,” Gujarat Finance Minister, Mr. Saurabh Patel said at ‘Texcon 2014’ Conference organised by CII in New Delhi on October 15.

Mr. Patel emphasised that the strength of Indian textile sector lies in ginning and spinning, while there is a need to focus on weaving and processing sectors. “Also there is a need to give more thrust on the garment industry as it is a labour intensive one providing more employment opportunities,” he added.

Mr. Patel said major issue of the textile industry is unavailability of skilled labour and for this the government, he said, is setting up skill development centres and centres of excellence.

Addressing the conference Mr. Phani Choudhary, Secretary in the Bangladesh Ministry of Textiles and Jute said that the Bangladesh textile and apparel sector has grown at a CAGR of 15% in the last seven years. “The factors leading to the high growth rate are competitive labour forces, innovativeness of entrepreneurs and MFA and duty free quota,” he noted.

Sunaina Tomar, Jt secretary in ministry of textiles, government of India said, “The key challenges faced by the textile industry are finance cost, land and environment clearances and labour reforms which need to be addressed.”

“For this there is a need to focus on economies of scale, infrastructure, skill development, technology development and brand promotion,” she added.