New Delhi: India has the potential to double its share of the global textiles market from $12 million currently to $25-30 million over the next 5 years, according to S B Mohapatra, secretary, textiles, government of India. Speaking at the DHL fashion first conclave, 'Indian apparel and textile exports: the way forward', which was launched in the capital today, Mohapatra said that the government is coming out with a package of incentives for the textiles processing sector.

As WTO quotas and restrictions on apparel exports are lifted from January 2005, Mohapatra said that he was confident that India would maintain its position in the knitwear sector and achieve a 10 per cent share of the world's knitwear market. However, he pointed out that Indian exporters needed to invest in order to compete with other global players. He said that out of 7,500 textile exporters from India, around 15 exporters handle exports of over Rs250 crore while more than 4,500 exporters have exports of less than Rs50 lakh.

Citing the examples of leading polyester manufacturers, Reliance and IndoRama who are investing in new facilities, Mohapatra said that he expected India to be the third largest player in the global polyester market.

Arvind Singhal, managing director, KSA Technopak however expressed concern that India may lag behind in the short term and argued that had reforms been put in place much earlier, India would have been in a stronger position in the world markets. The government's package may prove a case of too little, too late. "India's textile and garment industry is likely to face a very challenging time with the phase-out of quotas. And anyone who believes that a quota phase out will automatically translate into an immediate volume and value increase for the business may find the going tougher than under the protection of quotas," he said.

Asutosh Padhi, principal, McKinsey & Company said, "India has the potential to be a winner but the window is closing. There are two key steps that can be taken to avoid this which are government led reforms and organisational improvement, which are absolutely essential."

"We are optimistic and expect India to grow. JC Penney has identified India among the countries that we will focus our efforts on for the next 2-3 years. A lot then will depend on how our mills and exporters make use of the opportunity," said Adil Raza, country head, JC Penney.

In his introductory remarks, Chris Callen, country manager, DHL India said, "DHL India has been a progressive partner in identifying and developing solutions for the fashion, textile and apparel exporters over the years. We are particularly bullish on India, which we believe is on the verge of what is potentially a big leap forward and today's conclave represents one more initiative to facilitate strategic thought leadership for the industry as India strives to take its rightful place as a leading player in the global textiles market."

Ramesh Natarajan, head marketing, DHL India said, "The year 2005 is going to have significant long term benefits although it may not be immediately visible in the short term and DHL is gearing today to grow with this industry."

DHL, the logistics solutions services provider is the co-sponsor of Lakme India Fashion Week 2004, is also organising and sponsoring a series of daily seminars during the fashion week in association with the Fashion Design Council of India. This "Business of Fashion Seminar Series" will be held daily at 10.30 a.m. from April 27 to May 3, 2004.

DHL launched its pioneering 'fashion first' service in 1999 and offers specialised products such as the DHL 'express tube', a uniquely-designed packaging for the export of leather and textile samples.