India-Uk FTA is a blessing for the Indian textile industry

The India-UK free trade agreement will probably stimulate the already growing export of ready-made clothing fabrics

At a time when tariff discussions with the US are in the balance, the free trade agreement (FTA), signed on Thursday, with the UK is a blessing for the textile industry of India. The UK is a global fashion hub and the world’s fifth largest clothing importer. It imported items of clothing worth nearly $ 20 billion in the world in 2024, but the contribution of India was only $ 1.2 billion and in the top four suppliers of the UK.

There is a huge opportunity for the industry to tap the British market. The critical problem, however, is how quickly industry can scale up their production in the coming months to meet demand, players in the industry said.

The agreement is a huge plus for Indian textile and will release the way for more FTAs with EU and other countries. It will release the road for investments in capacity recording, said R. Rajkumar, director of Tiruppur established Best Corporation (P) Ltd.

A SAKTHIVEL, Hon -President, Tiruppur Exporters Association, greeted the agreement as a “historical performance that will again define the Export landscape of India.” With tariff benefits, Indian exporters will now have a stronger lead over competitors from Bangladesh, Vietnam and China on the British market, he said.

This will probably increase the already growing export of ready-made clothing. “We provide for ready-made clothing version from India to the VK, more than doubled in the near future of the current $ 1.45 billion to $ 3.25 billion. Of these, it is expected that the export of the Knitwear will only be added from $ 0.8 billion to nearly $ 2 billion, good for the total of UK,” “”, “”

Kulin Lalbhai, vice-chairman of Arvind Ltd, wrote on social media that the agreement ensures that 99 percent tax-free access takes care of the export from India to the UK, stimulating the textile sector. Arvind LTD is already planning to develop the market in the UK, because it is of the opinion that the India-UK FTA deal will help it to “re-balance” its dependence on the American market.

Increase confidence

The India-UK-FTA is also expected to increase the trust and reliability factor by streamlining customs procedures and mutual recognition of standards, reducing the compliance tax for the Indian clothing expirists.

With tax -free access, the clothing exports to the UK will witness a renewed thrust and moment in the coming years. The deal is a testimony to a shared dedication of deepening of cooperation between the two major nations, said Sudhir Sekhri, chairman of the Export Promotieraad of Apparel.

For most clothing products, the duty to export to the UK is 9.6 percent. India mainly exports cotton-based items such as T-shirts, women’s clothing and baby clothing, but lacks competitive capacity in winter clothing and fiber clothing made by humans, he said.

With inputs from Avinash Nair

Published July 24, 2025