Indian Textile Engineering Sector Looks For Greener Pastures Amid Global Interest

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Indian Textile Engineering Sector Looks For Greener Pastures Amid Global Interest

Machining Brighter Prospects

The Indian textile machinery sector seems to be heading for some better days. After languishing for years, the Rs 10,000-crore industry has succeeded in drawing some attention lately of policy makers as well as other stakeholder of the value chain. In fact, global machinery players are also looking at India with renewed interest in the wake of changing market dynamics. They are evaluating the market afresh with various permutation and combination in place which also include partnerships with Indian companies. Some of them have also set up (or looking to so) facilities (manufacturing/assembly) to leverage the market condition. The domestic textile machinery sector which despite having its existence for several years now, has struggled to meet the technological needs of the domestic textile industry. Besides, the sector has primarily confined itself to the spinning sector, even as it has very negligible presence in weaving, processing and garmenting technology. Experts have attributed this lopsided development to the poor demand for technological upgradation from these links of the textile value chain as a ramification of earlier policies that restricted textile production to power looms and the SSI sector. Currently, over 70% of the machinery requirement is being met by imports. The imports stood at Rs 10,305 crore in FY2016 up from Rs 8,858 crore in FY2015. Experts view that like technology Upgration Fund (TUF) in the domestic textile industry, there is need for a modernization and upgradation fund for the textile machinery sector as well. Besides, there is also need for some concerted efforts in terms of policy framework to encourage investments in this sector which is capital intensive in nature. Moreover, partnerships are also called for in order to bridge the technological gaps.

"European textile machinery manufacturers which have been major suppliers of quality textile machinery to the global textile industry, have renewed their interest in India. In the given situation, India is an attractive proposition for investments and partnerships as it is considered the biggest market after China which lately has shown some contraction," says R Anand, Chairman of Marzoli Textile Machinery Manufacturers Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Italian textile machinery major Marzoli (a part of Camozzi group) which has set up a facility (assembly unit) in Hosur, Tamil Nadu for spinning machinery. The company which has been supplying its spinning machinery to major textile manufacturers like Sintex, Vaibhav Laxmi Spinning Mills, Silvertech Cotspin and others, has stated commercial operation of its Indian facility last October and its first two consignments have been supplied to Vardhman Group recently.

As per Anand who is also vice president of The Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Italian textile machinery makers are keen to strike some partnerships with their Indian counterparts. People involved in R&D are eager to participate in joint efforts that can help the Indian industry to bridge the gap.

"India is an important market for the global textile machinery business, keeping in mind the large consumer base it possesses in textile production. The Indian market is certainly showing signs of transformation which may gain some momentum following Indian government's Make in India initiative," states Prasanta Deka, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Business Group Machines & Systems of Rieter India Pvt Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary (since 1995) of Swiss spinning machinery major Rieter Holding. The Indian operation has a capacity to produce two million spindles at its facility in Satara, Maharashtra.

The company is strengthening its Indian operation (also has service and technical centres in Coimbatore, Guntur, Ahmedabad and Bhilwara) in recent years and is also trying to localise the Indian production (currently 20-60 per cent is localized) in a major way in order to leverage the local advantages. In the last three year, Rieter India (revenue up to around Rs 1,500 crore in FY2016 from Rs 1300 crore in FY2015), has supplied 3.5 million spindles to various clients including Trident, Vardhman, Sintex, Welspun and Himatsingka Seide.

"The Indian market has potential. In weaving which is considered to be one of the weakest links, India will need to import over 40,000 looms every year for the next 10 years. The demand is emanating from both replacement as well as new looms. However, currently only 18,000 looms are bring imported every year. We are closely evaluating the market and if need arises we wouldn't mind putting up some sort of facility in India," says Updeep Singh Chatrath, Managing Director of Itema Weaving (India) Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Itema group (formed in 2010 after three European textile machinery majors--Somet, Italy Sultex, Switzerland and Vamatex, Italy merged together).

Itema, world's leading supplier of quality, high-performance weaving machinery, is increasing its footprints in India. For the Last three years, the company, the only manufacturer in the world to provide the top three weft insertion technologies: rapier, airjet and projectile, has also been focusing on emerging areas like technical textiles, denim and home furnishing in India with customized solutions. Itema has sales and after-sales teams as also technical, support and advanced repair centres in Mumbai, Coimbatore, New Delhi and Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra.

"The Indian textile industry has realized the significance of quality of production and we are seeing efforts are being made towards this end. For our business, India is one of the prime markets where we are augmenting our presence. The next few years are likely to be very crucial for the Indian market as it looks to bridge the gaps existing in the value chain," states Sivakumar Narayanan, executive vice president, marketing and business development of Uster Technologies AG, a leading manufacturer of analytical instruments and on-line monitoring systems to measure and control the quality of fibers and yarns. The Swiss major has been present in India since 1996 through its wholly-owned subsidiary (a sales and support team of 50 people).

"Efforts are being made to strengthen the base for textile machinery in the country. Various stakeholders are now gearing up to bring about the much-desired changes towards building up a conducive condition for the overall development of the industry. Global players are keen to increase their presence in India, evaluating various options. All this augur well for the Indian machinery industry," said Sanjiv Lathia, chairman of India ITME , the global textile machinery expo, whose 10th edition held recently in Mumbai.