CITI urges swift rollout of India's Export Promotion Mission

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) is hopeful that the Export Promotion Mission, about which an announcement was made in the Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26, will be established at the earliest.

“We will set up an Export Promotion Mission, with sectoral and ministerial targets, driven jointly by the Ministries of Commerce, MSME, and Finance. It will facilitate easy access to export credit, cross-border factoring support, and support to MSMEs to tackle non-tariff measures in overseas markets,” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her Budget speech on February 1, 2025.

“Having the Export Promotion Mission in place, preferably by the end of the year, will act as a huge confidence-booster for India’s exporter fraternity in the wake of the continued uncertainty around the date by which the US tariff issue will be resolved and the potential opportunities opening through the FTAs already signed by India and those on the anvil,” CITI chairman Ashwin Chandran said in a release.

“Such a move can also result in addressing the structural challenges which can help India raise its global share in world trade, including in the textile and apparel sector,” Chandran added.

The US has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, effective August 27. In July, India signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the UK. India is also currently negotiating multiple FTAs, including with the European Union.

Last year, India was the 6th largest exporter of textile and apparel items worldwide. India has close to a 4 per cent share of the global trade in textiles and apparel products. The bulk of India’s textile and apparel sector comprises micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs).

According to CITI’s analysis, in September 2025, Indian textile exports slid 10.45 per cent over the previous year, while apparel exports declined 10.14 per cent during the same period. Cumulative exports of textiles and apparel items during September 2025 declined 10.34 per cent over September 2024.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (HU)