According to data released by the India garment exporter body, Apparel Export Promotion Council, textiles exports in 2013 were at US$40 billion, ranking second in world trade. It has overtaken Germany and Italy to emerge second largest textile exporter, but lags China, World No. 1. China's exports are nearly seven times higher than India at US$274 billion.

Developing countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam have emerged as major suppliers to retail chains in Europe and the US on the back of cheap labour and lower-duty access.

Global trade comprises over 55 per cent of readymade garments, where India ranked sixth in 2013 with total exports of US$16 billion, accounting for 40 per cent of India textiles exports. This year it has moved up a notch, pushing down Turkey. China's share in garments is estimated at 60 per cent, implying that the government should provide bigger boost to the readymade industry.

Indian exporters were expecting part of the business from Bangladesh to shift to here after a series of accidents in factories raised safety hazards. However, it managed to clock 18 per cent increase in garments exports in 2013, much higher than the global rate of 6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the garment industry in India have staged a recovery in recent months which is reflected in the 23 per cent growth in exports of shirts, trousers, skirts and other readymade items in 2013. Reportedly, exporters believe that focusing on markets beyond the regular US and the EU has helped increase overall exports.

Stated Virender Uppal, AEPC chairman, "Despite having slow recovery in the US and EU, our biggest traditional markets as well as prevailing global slowdown coupled with sustained cost of inflationary inputs, we made the best possible efforts to reach here."

He further added that governments policy to diversify markets and products has assisted exporters to venture into the newer markets, which paid huge dividends. The industry also leveraged the strength in raw material and followed better compliance practices which attracted the buyers and international brands across globe to source from India. Recently UAE, Oman, Brazil, Malaysia, Poland and the Russia have seen a spurt in growth.

Textiles include everything from fibre to yarn to fabric, made-ups and readymade garments made of all kinds of fibre like cotton, silk, wool and synthetic yarn.