India's textile and apparel exports grew 14.2% year-on-year to $46.2 billion in FY26, driven by a significant shift of global sourcing orders from China to India as international brands accelerated their geographic diversification strategies. The growth was broad-based across apparel, home textiles, technical textiles and man-made fibre products, with the United States, European Union and Japan being the primary markets for the incremental exports.
The PLI scheme for textiles, which covers man-made fibre fabrics and technical textiles, has attracted Rs 12,800 crore of committed investment and led to capacity additions in polyester, nylon and aramid fibre production. India's cotton textile exports also benefited from a recovery in global cotton prices and improved competitiveness of Indian cotton yarn and fabric in Asian markets. Bangladesh and Vietnam, two key competitors, have seen their relative competitiveness reduce due to currency movements and rising labour costs.
India aims to more than double textile exports to $100 billion by 2030, which would require significant investment in productivity improvement, technology upgradation and logistics efficiency. The government's PM MITRA textile park scheme, which is establishing seven large integrated textile manufacturing zones, is expected to attract Rs 70,000 crore of private investment and create 1.5 million direct jobs in the sector over the next five years.
