The Union minister for textiles, Dayanidhi Maran, is different from the stereotypical, often populist, politicians from Tamil Nadu. In his earlier stint as the Union minister for telecom, he globetrotted seeking investments in India and especially Tamil Nadu. His home state was in dire need of such investments as it had been desperately trying to catch up with Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, which had emerged as major investment destinations. He had said: ?Manufacture in India, sell in India and make money in India.? The line-up of IT and telecom FDIs in Tamil Nadu and other states stands as testimony to the effectiveness of this mantra.
In his second innings as the Union minister, the political dynamics of the DMK landed him the ?textiles? portfolio, a less high profile but important for Tamil Nadu brief. He donned the mantle of textile minister at the worst of the times as recession had hit the apparel and fashion industry. Many units had to close down and retrench workers. Exports nosedived. The dynamic minister travelled to all textile clusters in the country asking manufacturers and exporters to hold on, cut costs, diversify and wait. The signs of the much awaited good times are on the horizon and the textile sector is waking up to a new dawn.
Maran is weaving a new mantra for FDI in the textile sector. He is aware of the fact that affluent consumers in India and South Asia are increasingly becoming brand conscious and will spend quite a lot on what they wear. Similarly, the fast developing design capability of young Indians coming out of fashion and design institutes is giving the textile and garment industry a world-class status.
Maran wants to make India the pivot of Asian, African and East European sales. His new mantra is: ?Manufacture in India, sell in and from India to make money in India?. Experts believe that many investors can be won over and there will be a beeline for textile FDI soon. Maran considers textile FDI not just as a forex earning, job-creating avenue but also as an indispensable process for the integration of the Indian textile industry with the global manufacturing system and markets.
joseph.vackayil@expressindia.com