Coimbatore: Textile association chants management mantras

COIMBATORE: The Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF), which has 450 members in the state from across the textile value chain, has zeroed in on four core areas — integration, sustainability, financial restructuring and leadership skills — based on a research. It would apply these to improve overall business performance of textile industry in the state in the financial year 2020-21, ITF convener Prabhu Dhamodharan said.
The core areas were decided based on a research ITF did along with research firm Crisil Limited. While the association members are practising concepts such as sustainability and leadership training, they seek to increase participation in the next fiscal.
Value-addition is the way forward for the textile industry, Dhamodharan said. “The pressure on standalone spinning mills is higher than that on integrated or semi-integrated textile units. Of the 87 lakh spindles units represented in the federation, only 20% are integrated. It’s the right time for standalone spinning companies to move up the value chain to make value-added finished products. For this, ITF would set up an advisory cell with industry and external experts to guide members to step into integration and make high value-added products to improve their financial performance.”
Speaking of sustainability, the official said the State is leading in areas such as zero liquid discharge and the use of green energy. “Power accounts for 10% of the yarn cost. We are planning to bring down energy consumption. Ten ITF members have GreenCo certification and seven have Higg Index. We plan to triple these numbers,” he said.
However, many textile firms couldn’t afford the measures due to working capital crunch, said Damodharan. “We have requested the ministry of textiles for a one-time financial restructuring. This includes converting of working capital loans as long-term loans in account of non-availability of working capital, a moratorium of two years and infusion of new working capital.”
The federation is also planning to provide leadership training to managers and supervisors. “We had trained 400 managers and supervisors at the ITF Leadership Academy last year in areas such as communication skills, emotional intelligence, innovation and creativity. As a result, teamwork has become better. We plan to train 1,000 more managers and supervisors from textile firms in the coming financial year.”