To propel the Indian textile sector towards its ambitious growth targets, banks must prioritize funding for crucial modernization efforts. This includes supporting textile units in adopting cutting-edge technologies, investing in robust research and development, and fostering product differentiation through innovative branding and labeling strategies.

According to Ms. Roop Rashi Mahapatra, the Mumbai-based Textile Commissioner for the Government of India, banks are essential in fulfilling the credit demands of the textile sector, a major employer supporting 54 million jobs, and crucial for achieving its projected market growth from $172 billion to $350 billion by 2030.

During the Export Conclave hosted by WTC Mumbai and YES Bank, Textile Commissioner Ms. Roop Rashi Mahapatra emphasized the capital-intensive nature of the spinning-to-weaving textile value chain, urging banks to extend beyond large-scale project finance and prioritize the funding needs of smaller textile units, particularly given that 70% of handloom operations are led by women, thus promoting financial inclusion in a sector where India contributes 95 out of 100 globally recognized handmade textiles.

Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman of WTC Mumbai, underscored the necessity of addressing MSME exporter challenges, particularly the lack of collateral-free credit, to achieve India's $1 trillion export goal from its current $440 billion, expressing optimism that the collaboration with YES Bank will streamline capital access for MSME members, while also urging public sector banks to significantly increase their currently low MSME lending portfolios, mirroring the higher credit shares offered by many private banks.

Textile Commissioner Rashi stressed the importance of Indian banks funding textile units for technology adoption, R&D, product differentiation, and branding, while also highlighting government initiatives supporting sustainable textile clusters and emphasizing the need to commercialize the over 47 patents secured across the textile value chain.