Govt plans 25 textile parks

The Indian textile and apparel industry has a potential to grow to $85 billion by 2007, Textiles Minister Shankersinh Vaghela said while addressing the first International Fashion Technology Forum, 2006 in New Delhi o Saturday.

Of this, the domestic market would be $45 billion while exports were estimated to touch $40 billion, he said.

The government was taking various steps to create a congenial environment by reduction in cost of production, rationalisation of excise duty structure and removing infrastructure bottlenecks, he added.

Emphasizing the importance of R&D activities, Vaghela said the industry needed to adopt the best practices and encourage research and development to attain global dominance.

He also appreciated the role of National Institute of Fashion Technology for playing a catalytic role in the growth of fashion and lifestyle related industry, business integrated design, technology and management.

Textiles Secretary and NIFT chairman D P Singh stressed upon the need to keep in mind the social responsibility of the industry that accounts for four per cent of India's economy.