Saving textiles

After a report looking at the problems affecting the textile industry, this newspaper’s Profit magazine details the solutions proposed by those involved in the supply chain, ranging from growers to manufacturers to exporters. These solutions to the various problems are not particularly difficult, and require only a certain level of attention from the government. However, the government must also realize that its job is to assist the industry by facilitating it, and must not get in the business of subsidising it. It is a little facile to dismiss textiles as ‘over’, though it may seem that way, but the government should realise that it is unlikely to get much more out of textiles. It is unlikely to show any extraordinary growth, but is likely to continue to exist, simply because people need to be clothed, and use bedsheets, towels and all sorts of textile goods.

It should be remembered that textiles begin with growing cotton, and that is where the tale of neglect begins. Not only do new varieties of drug-resistant seed need to be developed (or imported for immediate use), but farmers now turning from cotton to sugarcane must be made to come back. It is not that the conversion is natural; it is the result of many incentives, large and small, which ensure that sugarcane simply makes more sense. Then the manufacturers, whether spinners, weavers or makers, must be guaranteed electricity at a price that is comparable with competing countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam. In turn, manufacturers must engage in seeking value addition and trying to export finished goods as far as possible. A tried and tested method has not been fully exploited in textiles, which has been to use production for the domestic market as the basis for the export market, based on the assumption that the domestic customer is more discerning and more cost-conscious, than the foreign.

Apart from power, the government also controls taxation, and it must convert its attitude from that of a racketeer getting in on the action and gouging out his share to one of a careful shepherd who takes care of his animals while he exploits them for food and clothing. This indeed involves the government deciding if the textile industry has reached a point where it will not grow further. Even then, it involves the livelihoods of too many people along the supply chain to be ignored, but this will determine if the government wishes to devote resources to its rescue.