District-Led Textiles Transformation (DLTT)” Plan

Syllabus: GS3/ Economy

Context

• The Ministry of Textiles has unveiled the District-Led Textiles Transformation (DLTT) initiative, a strategic initiative designed to catalyze inclusive and sustainable growth across India’s textile landscape.

About

• The Ministry plans to transform 100 high-potential districts into Global Export Champions and develop 100 Aspirational Districts into self-sufficient hubs by adopting a district-level, sector-specific approach.
• The Ministry analyzed all districts using a data-driven scoring methodology based on three key parameters – Export Performance, MSME Ecosystem Workforce Presence.
• The initiative also emphasizes on Purvodaya convergence in east and northeast zones.

Two-pronged strategy  of districts categorization

• Champion Districts (Scale & Sophistication): These districts will focus on removing advanced bottlenecks.
  • Interventions include upgrading to Mega Common Facility Centres (CFCs), integrating Industry 4.0, and facilitating direct Export Market Linkages, etc.
• Aspirational Districts (Foundation & Formalization): These districts would aim to build the ecosystem from the ground up in setting up foundation and formalization of workforce.
  • This includes basic skilling and certification, establishing Raw Material Banks, and promoting micro-enterprises through Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and Cooperatives, etc.

Significance of the DLTT Initiative

• The initiative promotes decentralised and district-specific industrial development, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach and ensuring that local strengths, resources, and skills are effectively leveraged.
• DLTT strengthens India’s textile export competitiveness by enabling districts with proven capacity to scale up, upgrade technology, and integrate directly with global markets.
• The focus on MSMEs and informal enterprises helps in formalising the textile ecosystem, improving access to finance, technology, and markets for small producers, artisans, and micro-entrepreneurs.
• DLTT enhances supply chain resilience by developing local production hubs, reducing dependence on concentrated manufacturing regions.

Textile Sector of India

• Share in Domestic Trade: The domestic apparel & textile industry in India contributes approx. 2.3 % to the country’s GDP, 13% to industrial production and 12% to exports. 
• Share in Global Trade: India has a 4% share of the global trade in textiles and apparel.
• Export: India is the 6th largest exporter of Textiles & Apparel in the world.
  • The share of textile and apparel (T&A) including handicrafts in India’s total exports stands at a significant 8.21% in 2023-24. 
• Production of Raw Material: India is one of the largest producers of cotton and jute in the world. India is also the 2nd largest producer of silk in the world and 95% of the world’s hand-woven fabric comes from India. 
• Employment Generation: The industry is the 2nd largest employer in the country providing direct employment to 45 million people and 100 million people in the allied sector. 
• Regions: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Gujarat are the top textile and clothing manufacturing states in India.

Other Initiatives to Promote Textile Sector

• PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme: Its objective is to develop 7 mega integrated textile parks across India in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.
  • It aims to create a modern, integrated, world class plug and play textile infrastructure.
  • Foreign direct investment (FDI): Japanese investment aligns well with India’s goals under the “Make in India for the World” and “China‑plus‑one” manufacturing strategies.
• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme: The Scheme for Textiles was approved to promote production of Man-Made Fibre (MMF) Apparel, MMF Fabrics and products of Technical Textiles in the country to enable the textile sector to achieve size and scale and to become competitive.
• Exports Promotion Councils (EPCs): There are eleven Exports Promotion Councils (EPCs) representing various segments of the textiles & apparel value chain from Fibre to finished goods as well as traditional sectors like handloom, handicrafts and carpets.

Challenges in India’s Textile Sector

• The sector remains highly fragmented, with a predominance of small and informal enterprises that face constraints in scaling up, adopting technology, and accessing formal finance.
• Low labour productivity and skill gaps persist due to outdated production practices, limited formal training, and inadequate industry–academia linkages.
• India faces high logistics and transaction costs, and delays in customs clearance, reducing export competitiveness.
• Access to affordable credit remains a major issue for MSMEs and handloom units.

Way Ahead

• Stronger branding, design, and marketing support is essential to move districts from contract manufacturing to own-label and geographical indication–based products.
• Regular impact assessment and course correction, based on export performance, employment creation, and formalisation indicators, should be institutionalised.
• Digital platforms and data systems should be leveraged for real-time tracking of production, skilling outcomes, exports, and market linkages at the district level.

Source: PIB