Textiles India 2017: Making Indian Textiles Go Global

Amidst much preparations and planning, sidelining the efforts of the rain to pour in like a spoiler, the three day mega event, Textiles India 2017, opened to an enthusiastic audience at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on June 30, 2017. The Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, embarked upon a unique initiative to give a boost to the Indian Textile sector, to support and bring the weavers, artisans and all the creative curators under one roof through the Textiles India 2017 Fair, held during June 30, 2017 to July 2, 2017. Anurima Das reports. Photographs: Viraj Shah.

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Textiles India 2017 has been organised at a time when India under the present Government rule is undergoing a lot of positive changes marked by the implementation of GST, demonetisation of currency, et al. Bringing together the entire textile value chain under one roof and having every aspect of the Industry covered was not an easy task. And the Union Textiles Minister Smt Smriti Zubin Irani had the mammoth task of planning and executing this dream mega event all on her shoulders. She mentioned prior to the event, “This three day event would act as a catalyst for the textile sector to move into making India the global sourcing destination; for an exhibitor, the show benefits by means of meeting with direct buyers and collaborate with export houses. For a weaver, the show would be an educative platform to learn what type of designs they should adapt to match with global standards.”

Putting a rest to numerous naysayers and negative forces, she and the Ministry Of Textiles with Confederation of Indian Industry (Cll) as the Industry Partner, brought together every sector of the Industry on one page and this maiden initiative became a remarkable reality through the collaborative effort of 24 Export Promotion Councils, which is indeed praiseworthy.

The Event was marked by conferences, B2BB2G-G2G meetings, theme pavilions, fashion shows, exhibitions, roundtables, state sessions, country sessions, investors meets, the ASEAN India seminar, Signing of MoUs and a lot more. This mega exhibition covering an area of about 1,25,000 square metres, spread across 13 Halls, showcased over 1,300 exhibitors who interacted with over 2,220 buyers & buying agents from 60 plus countries. Key buyers from USA, UK, Germany & France and 15,000 plus domestic buyers & delegations from China, Korea, Russia & Bangladesh, attended the show.