India’s cotton textile exports are expected to cross $15 billion this financial year, says the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (Texprocil). India exported cotton textile products -- made-ups including home textiles, fabrics and yarns – worth $13.95 billion between April 2021 and February 2022. This was above the $12.5 billion target set by the government. Export of cotton textile products to countries such as Egypt, the US, Bangladesh, Vietnam and China exceeded the target by 102 per cent in 11 months, says the Texprocil report.

Manoj Patodia, Chairman, Texprocil says several factors contributed to export growth: pent-up demand, ban on Xinjiang cotton, extension of the RoSCTL scheme for made-ups and garments for three years till March 31, 2024 and coverage of the entire value chain under the RODTEP scheme.

As the industry moved forward, it expected global demand to continue. Extension of the Interest Equalisation Scheme, signing of the Indo-UAE free trade pact and fast-tracking of such agreements with the UK and Australia would boost cotton textile exports, he pointed out.

However, there are supply-chain constraints and for the industry to remain competitive, the government should remove customs duty on raw cotton and include made-ups in the scheme for duty-free imports of specified items that was introduced in the Union Budget, he added.