India plans nationwide survey to map textile hubs, assess sector’s health

New Delhi: From Uttar Pradesh to Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, India's key textile hubs are set to be mapped in detail as the government plans a nationwide survey of the industry.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is preparing to assess the health of the textile sector, one of the country's largest employment generators, and will work on the survey framework this year before launching it in 2027, government officials said.

The survey will capture a wide range of indicators such as financial inclusion, gross value added (GVA), enterprise and worker conditions, export status, access to loan and repayment patterns.

A request came from the Ministry of Textiles to conduct a dedicated survey of the enterprises engaged in textiles, officials said. The textile and apparel industry contributes 2.3% to India's gross domestic product and 13% to industrial production.

"There are multiple textile hubs across the country. We have asked the textile ministry to share a list of areas where textile work is concentrated," said a government official. "They are also studying what kind of area frame they can supply us with, so that we can go ahead and capture the information required," the official added.

Textile clusters are spread across India, with Surat (Gujarat) known for synthetic fabrics, Tiruppur (Tamil Nadu) for knitwear, and Ludhiana (Punjab) for woollens, among others.

The industry is also among those most impacted by the 50% tariffs that the US has imposed on India. India’s textile and apparel exports (excluding handicrafts) rose narrowly to $32.6 billion during January-November 2025 from $32.5 billion in the same period the previous year.

Textiles employed 1.7 million people in 2023-24, accounting for 8.7% India’s labour force, according to the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI). Data show that Gujarat accounted for 23.6% of the industry’s GVA, followed by Tamil Nadu (18.4%), Maharashtra (11.7%), Rajasthan (7.3%) and Punjab (5.3%).