Parliament Question: Assessment of imports in textile industry

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TEXTILES RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3360 ANSWERED ON- 20/03/2026 ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTS IN TEXTILE INDUSTRY 3360. SHRI ANTHIYUR P. SELVARASU: Will the Minister of TEXTILES be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has reviewed the impact of imports and order volatility on textile MSMEs in Erode district, Tamil Nadu, including Perundurai job-work units; (b) if so, the details of Government assessment on cost pressures, capacity utilization trends and support measures for competitiveness in Erode district; and (c) the measures proposed to be taken by Government to provide credit facilitation, market expansion support and resilience measures for textile units in the said district? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF TEXTILES (SHRI GIRIRAJ SINGH) (a) to (c): The Government is regularly monitoring India’s exports and imports of Textiles & Apparel, including handicrafts, across global markets. The export of Textile and Apparel products from Erode district during the period from April 2025 to January 2026 stood at ₹ 2,290 crore. During the period April 2025 to January 2026, Tamil Nadu’s exports of textiles and apparel (including handicrafts) stood at ₹57,858.7 crore, registering a growth of 3.3% over the corresponding period of the previous year. During the same period, India’s imports of textiles and apparel (including handicrafts) across all districts were ₹83,590.9 crore, while exports stood at ₹2,68,951.5 crore, thereby reflecting a healthy trade surplus in the sector. The Government is implementing various schemes/initiatives to boost the Indian textile and apparel sector and enhance its competitiveness from Country and these steps are boosting the export from Country including Tamil Nadu. Major schemes/initiatives include Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme focusing on MMF Fabric, MMF Apparel and Technical Textiles to boost large scale manufacturing and enhancing competitiveness; National Technical Textiles Mission focusing on Research Innovation & Development, Promotion and Market Development; SAMARTH – Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector with the objective providing demand driven, placement oriented, skilling program; Silk Samagra-2 for comprehensive development of sericulture value chain; National Handloom Development Program for end to end support for handloom sector. Ministry of Textiles is also implementing National Handicrafts Development Programme and Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme for promotion of handicrafts. The Government is also implementing Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme for Apparel/Garments and Made-ups to enhance competitiveness by adopting principle of zerorated exports. Further, textiles products not covered under the RoSCTL scheme are covered under Remissions of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) along with other products.In addition, the Government has approved the Scheme for Export Promotion Mission (EPM) for the period FY 2025–26 to FY 2030–31, aimed at strengthening India’s export competitiveness - particularly for MSMEs. The Mission is implemented through two integrated sub-schemes: Niryat Protsahan, which focuses on financial enablers and trade-finance support, and Niryat Disha, which addresses non-financial, market- access and ecosystem enablers. The government of India has also approved the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE) to provide additional credit support up to 20% of existing working capital limits to eligible borrowers, particularly MSMEs By enabling collateral-free credit access under CGSE. The government has introduced Mutual Credit Guarantee Scheme for MSMEs (MCGS-MSME), a government-backed initiative designed to help Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) access loans to grow their businesses. This scheme offers a credit guarantee, making it easier for MSMEs to obtain loans, especially for purchasing essential equipment and machinery. The Scheme provides credit guarantee cover to lenders (Scheduled Commercial Banks, All India Financial Institutions, NBFCs) for their term loans up to Rs.100 crore to MSMEs for their projects involving purchase of equipment/machinery. The Reserve Bank of India has also undertaken a comprehensive set of measures to improve credit flow to the MSME sector, focusing on enhancing access, affordability, and timeliness of finance. The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) has also been introduced several measures to support MSME exporters such as Collateral-Free Cover under WT-ECIB, enhanced 90% cover for banks on export credit loans up to 50 crore ₹(earlier 20 crore) without incremental cost, w.e.f. 01.10.2025, enhanced cover for banks and directly sourced business, etc. ****