Consumers are attracted towards innovations these days and they come to the market to see new offerings. Hence, in fashion business, as trends change fast and it is required to keep pace with this change and supposed to innovate consistently, said Aniruddha Deshmukh, MD & CEO, Mafatlal Industry who is optimistic about market scenario sees a good opportunity in the market as the company does B2B and B2C trade and also direct selling to end consumers. They have the potential to be global leader in textiles.

In women’s wear, there are a lot of prints in the market. Viscose has good demand. In denim, they are making good movement and seeing growth in high-end fashion denim. Similarly, in white fabric, people are looking for more varieties. Mafatlal has introduced dobbies keeping demand in mind.

Talking about maintaining lead, Deshmukh added that there is distribution channel since they are into B2B and B2C both, they have to be aligned with brands and end consumers. Supply and value chain is another area to work on. Supply chain efficiency and on time delivery matters a lot to stay ahead. Competition is there, all that is needed to do is find their niche, and start dominating the market.

Mafatlal Industries is into denim and shirting, as well as school uniform and ready to stitch clothing. In shirting, they are the leader in white fabric category, which is used for shirting, kurta payjamas etc. Then comes polyester cotton and cotton blends, they do fair amount of prints too such as cotton and viscose prints. They are number one in school uniform segment. They do corporate as well and are leading in this segment. And they are well established in ready to stitch segment, informed Deshmukh.

As textile does not come under any taxation, the only uncertainty is GST and its applicability on the sector. Rest everything is almost certain, opines Deshmukh. The sector has potential as textile is an essential sector and has to grow.

The government is taking a number of initiatives for the betterment of the sector, especially garment sector. States are setting up textile parks and policies to encourage growth. Talking about other Asian competitor countries such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, they have big scale setups. They are connected well with overseas companies, and are doing a good job. But the fact of the matter is they don’t have domestic demand and this goes to their advantage. They have an equal opportunity in export and domestic market. Since China is dipping in some areas, it is good for India and they should capitalise on it.

According to Deshmukh, in textile, India is the second largest in the world after China all that India needs to boost its exports and domestic markets as China is giving them space which they should utilize it.