Synthetic textile manufacturers in India are planning capacity addition over the next two to three years. The industry saw nearly 3,00,000 tons of new capacity across the entire value chain in the past two to three years. The overall capacity of the synthetic textile value chain is now five million tons a year. China’s is 55 million tons. As against 73 per cent of polyester and 27 per cent of cotton blend in textiles globally, India continues to have a lower percentage of polyester use, of just 40 per cent in the overall textile sector. The capacity additions planned now, of around 0.5 million tons in the next two or three years, will meet domestic demand and help in higher export. The demand for polyester fiber is increasing as the demand for sports and yoga wear is increasing across the world.

Substantial growth in imports into India of manmade fiber and manmade staple fiber and textiles is not a good sign for the industry. In September 2018, input tax credit, a big blocker of working capital for the entire industry, was released. The industry expects further support in terms of a uniform tax structure and a high import duty would help.