India

India’s withdrawal of the trans-shipment facility marks more than a bureaucratic hiccup—it represents a tectonic shift in South Asian trade geopolitics. At the heart of it lies the Bangladeshi apparel industry, now navigating increased costs, longer transit times, and geopolitical uncertainty. The episode underscores how strategic rivalry between India and China is beginning to shape—even weaponise—trade logistics and bilateral relationships.

The Organic Cotton Accelerator (OCA) has published the findings of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study highlighting the environmental benefits of organic cotton farming in India, offering detailed, locally relevant data demonstrating organic cotton’s reduced environmental impact compared to conventional farming.

This is not the first time that India has found itself with a heaven-sent opportunity. This time, however, all indicators are that the ground situation is different. Will India be able to upstage China in the global textiles and apparel trade? A ground report.

The lesson of the current US tariffs crisis roiling the trade world is this: you cannot keep relying on one country as your export destination. From now on it has to be ‘US Plus One’.

Perspectives are varied, and it is not an open-and-shut case against US Prez Donald Trump as his political opponents would have us believe. The tariff calculations could be questionable and the unilateral announcement should be decried, but what’s amply clear is this: trade will never be the same again.

Zurich-based Gherzi Organisation, incepted in 1929, is a global textile management consulting and engineering company, that has since emerged as a leader for strategic development and expansion of companies in the textile industry, from production to retail. Its services range from engineering of new factories to strategy consulting as also corporate finance. Leading its global team is Giuseppe Gherzi. Gherzi talks India, what ails its textile sector and what can it do to capture the opportunities that exist.

Nine key trade bodies in India have collaboratively come up with a code of conduct that prohibits and prevents child labour in the textile sector, stressing on ethical sourcing, transparency, and accountability, enhancing brand reputation and contributing to the elimination of exploitative labour practices.

A joint initiative by leading textile associations and export promotion councils, the Indian textile-apparel sector has come up with a five-point agenda that outlines immediate policy interventions needed to drive the industry toward a collective goal of US$ 100 billion in exports by 2030.

In perhaps the first of its kind research, texfash.com maps the fashion choices of India’s young population—the Millennials and GenZ—probing key influences that shape how this key demographic consumes and shops—be it their sustainability quotient, budgets, style influences, fits, marketplace and more.

India's textiles and handicraft industry has received a €9.5 million (₹85.5 crore) grant from the European Union (EU) for a joint initiative with the country’s Ministry of Textiles to foster inclusive growth, resource efficiency and sustainability in the textiles sector along with driving livelihoods, and women’s economic empowerment.