New Delhi, Nov 13 (KNN) India has untapped export potential in 13 handlooms and other textile products to the extent of 83 per cent of the world export market, revealed a study by the MVIRDC World Trade Centre Mumbai.

According to study, the said 13 products are toilet linen, kitchen linen, carpets, bed linen, floor cloths and other interior furnishing articles, gloves, shawls, scarves and terry towels.

While the cumulative world market (as denoted by world imports or exports) for these 13 products is USD 20.18 billion, India’s exports is hardly USD 3.4 billion or 17 per cent of the world market. This signifies that India has still 83 per cent untapped export potential in these goods. India has global competitive advantage in many of these products as it figures among the top three exporters in toilet linen, carpets, and articles of interior furnishings, shawls and bedspreads.

Speaking about the scope for export of these textile products, Rupa Naik, Senior Director, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai said, “India has competitive advantage in these 13 textile products as is reflected in our share in world exports. While India accounts for hardly 1.7 per cent of world merchandise exports, our share in global exports of these 13 products is 17 per cent. We can further enhance our export performance by creating awareness about export opportunities among our textile manufacturers.”

Some items such as articles of interior furnishings and bedspreads, India meets around 70 per cent of world import demand. India fulfils around 20 per cent of world demand for carpets, toilet linen and kitchen linen. However, in most other products, India hardly meets 2-5 per cent of world demand, signifying considerable untapped export potential. Major importers of these products are USA and European countries such as Germany, UK and France.

USA, Japan, Germany , UK and France are the leading importers of toilet linen, where India’s total exports is USD 1 billion compared to the world import of USD 5.4 billion. In case of carpets (HS Code 570242 and HS code 570500), India’s exports are hardly USD 338 million or 8 per cent of USD 4.06 billion of world imports. Major importing nations of carpets are USA, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Germany and France. Similarly, India’s share in world exports is less in case floor cloths, gloves, mittens & mitts. The following table provides India’s exports, world market and top seven importers and exporters of these 13 products for 2019.

Trade promotion can be a key driver of exports of India’s handloom products in the global market. Industry associations and trade support institutions should hold virtual buyer-seller meet, virtual exhibitions and promote our products on e-commerce platforms.

Further, there is a need for guiding handloom weavers about the procedures for exports. According to the Fourth Handloom Census (released in 2019), around 52 per cent of handloom weaver households mentioned that they need training in marketing, packaging, market information and export procedures.

The study also revealed that exports account for hardly 0.4 per cent of total sales of handloom weaver households. They sell around 64 per cent of their goods in the local market, 17 per cent to master weavers, 8.8 per cent to co-operative society and 1.0 per cent in organised trade fairs. Exports and sales through e-commerce account for respectively 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent of their overall sales, suggesting that exports is still an untapped avenue for handloom weavers.