India's textile and apparel exports, including handicrafts, registered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7%, increasing from ₹2,97,004 crore in 2023-24 to ₹3,25,339 crore in 2025-26 according to provisional data from DGCIS. Readymade garments constituted the largest export category at ₹1,39,350 crore in 2025-26, followed by cotton textiles (₹1,02,427 crore) and man-made textiles (₹46,254 crore). Other significant categories included carpets (₹12,887 crore), jute products (₹3,381 crore), silk products (₹2,262 crore), wool and woolen textiles (₹1,566 crore), and handloom products (₹1,359 crore). Handicrafts exports excluding handmade carpets reached ₹15,855 crore in 2025-26.
The United States remained India's largest export market for textiles and apparel including handicrafts, though exports declined to ₹85,910 crore in 2025-26 from ₹92,571 crore in 2024-25. Other major destinations included Bangladesh (₹24,445 crore), UAE (₹20,775 crore), UK (₹19,652 crore), Germany (₹13,200 crore), Netherlands (₹10,461 crore), Spain (₹9,651 crore), France (₹9,074 crore), Italy (₹7,407 crore), and Sri Lanka (₹6,997 crore). Exports to the rest of the world accounted for ₹1,17,766 crore. India's exports registered growth in more than 100 countries in 2025-26 compared with the previous year.
The Government of India is implementing multiple schemes and initiatives to boost the textile and apparel sector's competitiveness, including PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, National Technical Textiles Mission, SAMARTH capacity building scheme, Silk Samagra-2, National Handloom Development Programme, National Handicrafts Development Programme, Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme, Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) Scheme, Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) Scheme, and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Exporters (CGSE). The RoSCTL Scheme, which rebates all embedded State and Central taxes/levies on apparel/garments and made-ups exports, has been extended until 30 September 2026 to provide policy stability.
The government has adopted a focused export-promotion and market-diversification strategy covering 40 priority countries and is leveraging sixteen Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in force, including the India-United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and concluded FTAs with the European Union and New Zealand. Additionally, the RELIEF (Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation) initiative was launched on 19 March 2026 under the Export Promotion Mission to support exporters affected by disruptions from the West Asia/Middle East conflict and maritime challenges in the Gulf region.
To address domestic supply issues, customs duty on imports of cotton under Chapter 5201 has been temporarily exempted from 1 June to 31 October 2026. The government has also approved the Mission for Cotton Productivity for 2026-27 to 2030-31 to address productivity bottlenecks and quality concerns in India's cotton sector.