The ministry will follow a segmented approach to cater to the different needs of countries and has identified 13 potential markets where it will begin marketing activities to promote Indian products like handicrafts, jute, cotton, textiles and apparel. Textile exports have been diminishing since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which had significantly lowered import duties, which is causing great hardships to the textile industry.

Textile and apparel exports from the country have witnessed a slowdown in recent years due to subdued demand trends in the key importing countries that include the United States and European Union countries. Therefore, the Integrated Marketing Plan 2017-18 has been created by the ministry for textile to boost exports. India’s total textiles and apparel exports for the last financial year was $ 39.7 billion. The textile ministry has set a target of $45 billion exports from the country’s textile and garment sector for 2017-18 fiscal. The textile ministry’s Integrated Marketing Plan 2017-18 will be initiated through promotional activities such as B2B meetings, exhibitions and roadshows in countries like Germany, France, Italy, the US, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Australia, Russia, the UAE, Brazil, Egypt and Chile, as per the requirements of Indian products in these markets. “There exists a huge potential for India to increase its market share in various markets by aligning the product with specific market. In line with this, the Marketing Plan has been prepared to synergise various ongoing marketing initiatives while adopting specific approaches for traditional, emerging and other important markets,” the ministry said in a statement. Apart from marketing activities the government is also working towards expediting the long pending India-EU free trade agreement. The textile industry has been long demanding for duty-free access of Indian textile and garment items to the EU due to competitive pressures from countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan.