India's apparel output shrinks 7.4% in August as textile mills grow 13%

India's garment factories produced less in August than a year earlier, even as the country's spinning and weaving mills expanded strongly, according to official industrial production data reported by the Press Trust of India and published by Business Standard on 4 October.

India's Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 8% in August, up from 6.7% in July, with 18 of 23 manufacturing groups recording growth. Wearing apparel was one of the exceptions: output contracted 7.4% year on year in August and 5.6% cumulatively over April–August. Textiles moved the other way, growing 13.1% in August and 11.9% over April–August. Textiles carry a weight of 3.27 points in the index, compared with 1.97 points for apparel.

The weakness in garment output comes alongside a 9.1% fall in India's apparel exports in April–August of the 2026-27 fiscal year, the report said. India currently exports about $16 billion of apparel a year and has set a target of $40 billion by 2030.

A Sakthivel, chairman of India's Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), said the two indices cover different stages of production and need not move together. Textiles, he explained, cover upstream yarn and fabric, which respond to raw-material costs, while garments depend directly on export orders and global retail demand.

"Wearing apparel is the final, value-added stage," Sakthivel said.

Exporters are counting on a recovery around the festive season, with one manufacturer quoted as expecting growth to pick up within two to three months. The report also cited a 2024 survey that valued India's textile market at ₹14.95 trillion, about 80% of it domestic.

What it means for Egyptian exporters

India is one of Egypt's most direct competitors for garment orders from European and American buyers, and its apparel output and exports are currently weakening while its yarn and fabric mills keep growing. For Egyptian garment makers, a softer Indian apparel pipeline is an opening to approach buyers who are reviewing or splitting their sourcing. For Egyptian spinners and fabric producers, strong Indian upstream output points to continued price competition in yarn and fabric. Buyers and exporters should watch whether India's expected festive-season recovery materialises before the end of the year.