At the 66th Annual General Meeting of the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) in Coimbatore announce a new leadership team. In which the industry leaders team expressed optimism about the strength of India's textile and apparel sector despite challenges posed by high US tariffs. Erode-based Pallava Textiles Pvt Ltd has unanimously elected Durai Palanisamy as its Executive Director and Chairman for 2025-2026. He is the Vice-Chairman of CII, Erode Zone and a member of the Administration Committee of the Man-Made & Technical Textiles Export Promotion Council (MATEXIL).

S. Krishnakumar, Managing Director of Sulochana Cotton SPG Mills Pvt Ltd, Tirupur has been elected Vice-Chairman. The main product of his business is recycled yarn and textiles made from used PET bottles. He is also the President of the recently established Tirupur Yarn Manufacturers Association. K. Sivaraj, Managing Director of Dindigul-based Sivaraj Spinning Mills (P) Ltd has been appointed Vice-Chairman. Across its four product categories – yarn, knitted fabrics, woven fabrics and readymade garments – Sivaraj Spinning Mills is a dominant force in the domestic market.

According to Palanisamy, the industry has consistently shown resilience and the ability to expand. While the recent US tariffs have posed significant hurdles, he stressed that rising domestic demand and market diversification will help mitigate the short-term drop in exports to the US, which currently accounts for 28% of India’s total textile exports, valued at around US$ 11 billion.

He further said the industry will overcome the current hurdles and play a key role in establishing India as a global textile superpower with the right mix of innovation, competitiveness and government support. Removal of 11% import duty on cotton by December 2025, setting up of Cotton Productivity Mission with an allocation of Rs 5,900 crore (US$ 706 million), and rationalisation of GST rates across the entire textile value chain are some of the “pioneering initiatives” for which he praised the government for addressing structural issues in the industry.

While Palanisamy acknowledged that GST 2.0 would help the industry grow even more, he cautioned that the 18% GST on textile machinery would continue to be a major burden without a technology upgradation scheme implemented from 2022. He said it was necessary to tackle this problem as well as address problems arising from quality control orders (QCOs) on Man-made fibres to improve competitiveness. Given the limited growth prospects in the cotton textile industry, he urged the next generation leaders of the industry to explore new international markets and invest in cutting-edge products made from synthetic fibres.