Textile policy aims to meet the current needs of the industry

The Tamil Nadu government released a “new integrated textile policy” on January 29, 2026 (Thursday) as the Central government schemes and industry’s requirements have changed since 2019, when the existing policy was released.

A senior official of the Ministry of Handlooms, Khadi, and Textiles, Tamil Nadu, told The Hindu sector-specific policies are usually for 10 years. However, a new policy had to be released in six years because of the changes that have happened in the recent years. The focus of the new policy is to encourage the industry to adopt new technologies.

The policy will cater to the evolving needs of the industry.

The vision statement of the policy says it endeavours to “respond to the needs of the textile industry in the changing economic scenario and technology and offer direction and support for the future growth of the industry.”

The policy looks at interventions in the spinning, weaving, knitting, garmenting, and processing segments of the textile value chain apart from technical textiles.

Tamil Nadu leads in textile exports with $ 8.2 billion in 2024-25. As the State strives to achieve $ 1 trillion economy, the textile sector is expected to play a key role. While it has 43 % of the spindle capacity, 20 % of home textile exports, and 60 % of the yarn exports, it can improve its productivity by adopting modern technology, the policy document said.