India’s textiles and leather industries are among the worst hit sectors as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for August 2022.

The index of manufacture of textiles, wearing apparel and leather and related products recorded a double digit hit in this period. The manufacture of textile index fell to 105.5 in August 2022 from 120.2 in August 2021. The cumulative index also came down from 113.8 to 109.3. The industry has recorded a negative growth of 12.2 per cent in August and four per cent in April 2022 to August 2022.The apparel index slipped by 18.3 per cent to 117.7 in August 2022 from 144.1 in the corresponding period of last year.However, the cumulative index managed to register a growth of 26.6 per cent to reach 136.2 from 107.6 of August 2021.The index of leather and leather products fell by 15 per cent to 90.5 from 106.5 in the same month of last year. The cumulative index grew 1.7 per cent to 98.3 per cent from 96.7 per cent in August 2021.

IIP confirms the sluggish demand and pressure of prices on the textile value chain. Earlier, the Indian textile industry had faced a shortage of cotton and sky-rocketing prices. However, the demand was better than today. Currently, low demand from domestic as well as international markets is a critical challenge for the sector.