India has the capability to emerge as a manufacturing hub for textile machinery, according to an industry expert. The rolling out of ‘Make in India’ campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and its subsequent promotion for setting up manufacturing units in India could help the country in becoming a manufacturing hub for textile machinery, opines Akshay Sharma, CEO of India-based Magnum Resources that offers fast-selling manufacturing equipments for the apparel and home textiles industry. In an exclusive interview with Fibre2Fashion.com, Sharma said, “There are many machinery manufacturers, especially in Europe/US. The main challenge they face is cost-matching according to the country they want to deal with, as countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh still have low wage rates compared to Europe/US.” “Here it is better to support the ‘Make in India’ programme, so that the cost of machines with the same quality is in the reach of small and medium manufacturers too,” avers Sharma. Explaining further, he says, “Normally, international companies should try to start their manufacturing units in India with a similar R&D that people have utilised in Europe/US. The Indian Government has already started this programme, and it has started inspiring many companies planning to put up their manufacturing units in India.” International companies that set up their manufacturing units in India should also employ local people after giving training to them so that they get similar quality of products (machines) with lesser cost, he adds. He suggests that the Ministry of Textiles/Indian Government should send a team to big exhibitions like ITMA. This team would invite various manufacturing companies to set up their production units in India. The Ministry can also organise seminars to promote Make in India in textiles.
