ASIA-PACIFIC India’s textile industry urgently needs to diversify beyond its traditional markets of the US and Europe to remain competitive in the wake of the global economic downturn, New Delhi warned on Wednesday.
Dayanidhi Maran, the minister of textiles, said the industry was highly vulnerable to its overdependence on western markets and had not sufficiently embraced new technology to maintain a competitive edge against rivals such as China, Korea and Indonesia. He described the sector, which relies heavily on state support, as “monolithic” and in need of an overhaul of its “entire production system”.
