India’s textile and apparel exports rise 5.36% to $6.18 billion in FY26 start
By yash chouhan 2025-06-18 00:48:38
India’s textile trade grows to $6.1 billion in early FY26
India’s textile and apparel (T&A) exports rose 5.36% year-on-year to $6.18 billion during the first two months of FY2025–26 (April–May 2025), driven by strong growth in apparel shipments even as textile exports remained largely flat.
Apparel exports recorded robust double-digit growth of 12.80%, reaching $2.88 billion, compared to $2.55 billion in the same period last year. In contrast, textile exports slipped marginally by 0.39% to $3.29 billion.
The trend continued through May 2025, with apparel maintaining strong momentum while textile shipments showed subdued performance.
According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the share of textiles and apparel in India’s total merchandise exports increased to 8% during April–May 2025 and further to 8.25% in May, underlining the sector’s growing contribution to external trade.
Within the textile segment, performance remained mixed. Exports of cotton yarn, fabrics, made-ups, and handloom products fell 1.39% to $1.93 billion in April–May. Meanwhile, exports of man-made yarn, fabrics, and made-ups rose 1.41% to $793.27 million. Carpet exports performed better, growing 2.07% to $246.93 million.
In May alone, cotton yarn, fabrics, made-ups, and handloom exports dropped 4.29% to $966.75 million, while man-made textile exports declined 1.05% to $409.48 million. Carpet exports, however, continued to grow, rising 1.01% to $132.74 million.
Imports also showed a sharp increase. Raw cotton and waste imports surged 131.30% to $189.18 million in April–May 2025, compared to the same period last year. Imports of textile yarn, fabrics, and made-ups rose 18.92% to $413.81 million.
In May, raw cotton imports more than doubled, increasing 133.14% to $102.3 million, while yarn and fabric imports rose 18.68% to $220.69 million.
For context, India’s apparel exports grew 10.03% to $15.99 billion in FY25, while textile exports rose 3.61% to $20.62 billion. In FY24, total T&A exports stood at $34.43 billion, down 3.24% from FY23.
Industry experts attributed the rise in raw cotton imports to higher domestic prices, driven by elevated minimum support prices (MSP) and import duties.
Sanjay K Jain, Chairman of the ICC National Textile Committee, noted that India has achieved strong double-digit apparel export growth in recent months, while also seeing rising raw cotton imports due to price disparities between domestic and global markets.
