‘International Conference on Manmade Fibre Textiles’ off to a deafening start

The much-awaited ‘International Conference on Manmade Fibre Textiles’ opened today to a rousing reception at the prestigious campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad. The hall was packed with delegates, who included global and Indian experts, industry leaders and stakeholders from the textile industry.

The conference has been organised by Fibre2fashion, the leading global B2B website for the textile, apparel and fashion industry in association with the Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) & Surat Art Silk Cloth Manufacturers Association (SASCMA).

At the inaugural session, on the dais were present, Mr Maheshwar Sahu - IAS and Principal Secretary (Industries & Mines) - Govt. of Gujarat, Mr Sanjiv Shah – CEO, Fibre2fashion, Robin Anson - Managing Director, Textiles Intelligence, UK, Dr PR Roy - convener of the conference, Mr Rohit Mehta – President SGCCI, Mr Arun Jariwala – Chairman, SASCMA, Mr RD Udeshi - Reliance Industries, Mr SN Modani – Sangam Group and Mr KK Maheshwari - Grasim Industries.

Dr PR Roy, also Director of fibre2fashion began the proceedings by announcing the theme of the conference. He said, “One needs to keep eyes and ears open to the changes in the global textile scenario.”

“Land available to cultivate cotton is going to fall, with the same land competing with other remunerative food crops. Secondly, water consumption across the whole cotton textile value chain is also very high. This puts a question mark on long term viability and prospects of the production of the natural fibre.”

“Global per capita consumption of textile fibres is 11.5 kg, while in India it is 4-5 kg. Manmade fibres will also be in very good demand from the burgeoning technical textiles sector. Two fibres in particular will dominate the global textile sector – polyester and viscose staple fibre. This conference will deliberate on what role manmade fibres will play in the future”, he winded up by saying.

This was followed by an address from Mr Arun Jariwala who said, “A manmade fibre textiles conference is being held after a period of 25 years in Gujarat, with the last one being held in Surat in 1985.

“Between 1980 and 2010 cotton output has grown by 81.36 percent while manmade fibre production has grown by 367 percent. The ratio of consumption of manmade fibre vis-à-vis cotton fibre in India is 39:61, while globally it is 60:40. In 2008-09, the growth rate of synthetic yarn was 7 percent, in 2009-10 it declined to 2.06 percent, while in between April and June 2011-12 it decelerated to a negative 10.18 percent.”

“China and India account for 78 percent of global textile production, with China accounting for more than 6 times that of India. This conference will help to plan the future course of the manmade fibres textile industry. I also thank the Gujarat government for helping in boosting the technical textiles sector.”

Next to speak was Mr Rohit Mehta. He said, “Surat is one of the main centres in India for manmade fibre textiles. At a time when the industry is looking for answers to a host of questions, this conference will help in addressing the same. The renowned speakers will definitely throw light on these and many more”.