Govt plans ₹25,000-crore skilling push to sharpen textile export edge
The Samarth 2.0, announced in the budget for 2026–27, aims to modernise the existing skilling framework through closer collaboration between industry and academic institutions, with a focus on preparing workers for the changing technology and industry requirements.
New Delhi: The government is considering a ₹25,000-crore skilling push for the labour-intensive textiles and garments sector over the next five years, as it seeks to build a larger pool of industry-ready workers and sharpen India's manufacturing and export competitiveness amid global trade and geopolitical tensions, two people aware of the matter said. The proposed ₹25,000-crore outlay for Samarth 2.0 would mark a sharp increase from the ₹740 crore spent under the existing Samarth 1.0 scheme for textile workers over the five years through March 2026.
The allocation for the current fiscal year is ₹300 crore. The textiles ministry’s proposal has been examined by the Expenditure Finance Committee, an inter-ministerial body that appraises government schemes, and could soon be placed before the Cabinet for final approval, said the people cited earlier, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The development assumes significance as the textiles and garment sector is the largest employer in the country after agriculture, providing jobs to 45 million people and supporting the livelihood of more than 100 million, most of them women and rural workers.
The Samarth 2.0, announced in the budget for 2026–27, aims to modernize the existing skilling framework through closer collaboration between industry and academic institutions, with a focus on preparing workers for the changing technology and industry requirements. Once approved by the Cabinet, the programme is expected to be rolled out through industry partners, academic institutions and other organizations in the sector.
Queries emailed to the secretaries of expenditure and textiles, and the spokesperson of the textiles ministry remained unanswered till press time. Industry executives and experts welcomed the move, saying that the training programmes should focus on imparting industry-relevant skills to workers. “Expanding the skilling programme could help address the shortage of trained workers. But the focus should not be only on training numbers but also on industry-relevant skills, productivity and employability,” said Raja Shanmugam, a knitwear exporter and former president of the Tiruppur Exporters' Association.
Training must keep pace with the changes in technology, quality standards and global buyer requirements, he said. “Closer collaboration between exporters and training institutions will be essential to ensure that workers acquire skills that factories actually need,” Shanmugam added. India is also planning to more than double its textiles and garment exports to $100 billion by 2030 by better leveraging various free trade agreements (FTAs), which requires a large and trained workforce.
Textiles minister Giriraj Singh has said India's 15 FTA partners offer a textiles market of $198 billion, against the country’s current exports of only $11.5 billion to these destinations, indicating a big headroom for growth. The timing of the massive skilling push is also crucial. India's FTA with the UK came into force this year, while that with the European Union (EU) will take off from early 2027—both promise duty-free access to textiles and apparels and together are the largest market after the US for India.
The EU currently levies duties of up to 12% on Indian exports of textiles and garments, depending on the products, while a key competitor in these segments, Bangladesh, enjoys duty-free access due to its status as a least developed country, senior industry executives said. This currently places India at a disadvantage, which will change once the FTA enters into force early next year. The UK, too, had imposed a similar level of duties before the FTA with India became effective from July.
“Samarth 2.0 can help bridge the gap between classroom training and workplace needs by bringing industry and academic institutions closer to the skilling process,” said Babita Biswas, founder-chairperson of Briatoshs, a trust that works with crochet weavers. The focus, Biswas added, should be on practical skills, quality training and better employment outcomes, so that workers can adapt to new technologies and the industry can access a skilled workforce.
The skilling push also complements other measures, including mega textile parks, capital aid for machinery and technology upgrade in traditional clusters. The aim is to address long-standing productivity gaps and help India regain its export edge vis-à-vis competitors, such as Bangladesh and Vietnam. Launched in 2017, Samarth 1.0 covers entry-level training as well as upskilling and reskilling of existing workers in the textiles and garments sector, excluding the organized spinning and weaving segment.
It is implemented through textile industry bodies, state government agencies and institutions under the ministry. As of 16 October, 7,38,182 workers were trained under entry-level programmes across 4,614 training centres and 323 implementing partners, according to the textile ministry’s official Samarth dashboard. Under the upskilling and reskilling programme, another 26,786 beneficiaries were trained across 168 active training centres and 33 implementing partners.
