India

Asia's largest mechanical textile recycling cluster has spent the better part of a decade acquiring the infrastructure of sustainability—treatment plants, cleaner fuels, international certifications. A detailed diagnostic study now offers the most granular environmental assessment of Panipat to date, and its findings complicate the progress narrative: pollution persists, residue management remains opaque, and technology adoption is deeply uneven across the cluster's enterprises.

The Government of India has outlined measures to promote eco-friendly textiles, organic fibres and natural dyes, citing rising global demand and export potential. Initiatives include cluster-based pilot projects, research collaborations, branding efforts and organic cultivation schemes to strengthen sustainable production, certification and domestic manufacturing across the textile value chain.

Chennai's IILF 2026 exposed contradictions shaping India's leather industry: innovative chemical systems alongside organisational failures, Trump tariffs suppressing demand yet prices holding firm, and sustainability frameworks that never reach tannery workers. The 'Leather Carnival' demonstrated both the sector's professionalisation and its struggle to reconcile traditional identity with market realities.

IIT Roorkee has developed a new artificial intelligence framework that enables the translation of detailed textual descriptions into professional-quality fashion sketches. Built around the FLORA dataset and the NeRA adapter, the research addresses limitations in existing AI tools and supports more precise, expressive and sustainable design workflows across fashion, retail and allied creative industries.

As climate risk, regulatory scrutiny, and supply-chain volatility intensify, the question facing the industry is no longer whether alternative materials can be developed, but whether they can be scaled with reliability, accountability, and long-term resilience.

Waterless dyeing has historically struggled with fibre limitations, slow cycles, and inconsistent shades. Recent industrial trials now suggest those constraints have been fixed. Swapneshu Baser, Managing Director of Deven Supercriticals explains how architectural changes in dye placement and process flow transformed supercritical CO₂ from a niche alternative into a viable, scalable dyeing medium for mainstream textiles.

Indian fashion’s modern history has been shaped as much by its chroniclers as its creators. Among them, Meher Castelino occupied a distinctive place, combining reportage with long institutional memory. Her writing, consulting, and editorial contributions tracked the industry’s growth from its early professionalisation to its global presence. Her death signals the loss of a voice that understood fashion as labour, culture, and record.

As textile waste escalates and regeneration pathways remain limited, new circular materials are beginning to influence discussions around scale and feasibility. A newly introduced fibre offers a mechanical route that avoids additional chemical processing and broadens application potential. Here, Manmohan Singh, Chief Marketing Officer at Birla Cellulose, details the technology, ecosystem alignment, and market readiness informing this development.

His is a classic case of how an artisan from the grassroot level can rise to reach some of the most famed museums in the world. Not many know but he has, stitch by stitch, needle by needle, threaded his way into the cultural mosaic that this country is. His thread is his voice, his loom a battleground for respect. In conversation with Asif Shaikh.

Surat is built by people who arrived with little but resolve, turning hardship into high-growth enterprises. Their stories reveal a city that rewards speed, grit and practical intelligence—a place where partnerships form easily, risks are absorbed quickly and learning never stops. Here, ambition meets an ecosystem that converts effort into scale, making enterprise almost instinctive.