India has cemented its position as a textile powerhouse, achieving formidable progress since its independence. With its rich artistry, diverse culture, and meticulous craftsmanship, India’s textile legacy is unmatched. This legacy, however, has come at the cost of a significant footprint on the environment. A Times of India article stated that India’s textile industry contributes to about 10% of the global Textile Industry’s carbon footprint. Off late, the Textile companies in India have begun adopting sustainable practices and initiatives to address this. As a global leader in Textiles, India is transitioning to a greener, more sustainable approach to manufacturing textile products.
At the heart of this shift lies a conscious move towards eco-friendly materials. Organic cotton, grown without harmful pesticides and fertilizers, is gaining traction. Major companies are integrating organic cotton into their manufacturing processes for various product lines and coming up with unique ranges of eco-friendly garments. Along with organic cotton, other natural fibers are also finding a demand and appreciation from customers.
The textile industry is among the biggest contributors of waste, but this is slowly changing. India’s textile industry is inculcating a culture of recycling and upcycling into its manufacturing process with many companies repurposing their waste into unique garments and contributing to the global circular economy.
Another major concern in the Textile Industry is its significant energy consumption and dependence on fossil fuels. Welspun, one of the best textile companies in India and a major hotel linen supplier is leading the charge to turn this around by switching to natural sources like Solar & Wind energy. More and more textile factories and manufacturing units across India are emerging with solar panels on their rooftops. This effort plays a major role in not only reducing the textile industry’s carbon footprint, but also improving energy efficiency.
Responsible water management in the textile manufacturing operations is another key focus area for the industry. Dyeing and finishing processes in the textile industry are notorious for their excessive generation of wastewater. Indian textile companies are coming up with innovative solutions to tackle this problem and reduce their wastewater footprint, including recycling of wastewater for usage in other areas of the manufacturing process.
Finally, the Indian government is making moves and introducing schemes and policies that incentivize textile companies to adopt sustainable practices. These include the Sustainable Fashion Certification Scheme (SFCS), the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, and the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP). All of these initiatives by the Indian government encourage textile companies in India to not just adopt sustainable practices but to innovate and come up with advanced technologies in textile manufacturing.
