Despite China’s retreat from the top of the global garment league, India’s slice of world apparel shipments has barely moved from roughly 3% in 2025, according to a sector study by PL Capital.
The brokerage argues that a considerable sourcing prize remains within reach, provided India can capitalise on the China+1 approach and widening market access.
China’s portion of global apparel trade eased from a 2010 high of 36.9% to 27.3% in 2025. Over the same stretch, India slid fractionally from 3.2% to 3%. Bangladesh and Vietnam, by comparison, roughly doubled their joint stake from around 7% to beyond 13%.
“The China+1 wave has trimmed China’s share by about 9.6%, freeing up US $50-60 billion of volume that is now up for grabs across global sourcing networks,” the Textiles Sector Report noted.
Bangladesh and Vietnam have so far pocketed most of that redirected business, the study found, helped by cheaper production, trade pacts and tightly integrated manufacturing clusters.
“India, on the other hand, has yet to build hubs that unite fibre, fabric and fashion in a single location, and it bears a markedly higher cost of capital, which explains why its share has hardly shifted,” the report explained.
Even so, PL Capital sees a number of forces coming together in India’s favour. These include buyers spreading risk away from China, government backing through initiatives such as the Production Linked Incentive scheme and PM MITRA, and improved entry into leading consumer markets via trade deals.
Indian textile and apparel shipments reached roughly $37 billion in FY26, with readymade garments the biggest component at 44%.
The study cautioned that gains will not be spread evenly across the sector, since international brands are steadily concentrating their orders among a smaller pool of bigger suppliers.
“Buyers are narrowing their vendor lists to partners able to deliver capacity, dependability, traceability, ESG compliance and supply resilience spanning several countries,” the brokerage stated.
Scale, it added, remains India’s chief handicap, owing to scattered garment-making capacity, lengthier lead times, a thin man-made fibre base and slower uptake of technology than in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
The brokerage therefore expects the next leg of growth to reward large, well-organised and delivery-minded apparel makers able to combine scale, quicker turnaround and integrated supply chains.
Click here to read the full report: https://plindia.com/ResReport/Textiles-21-9-26-PL.pdf?_gl=1*16pirrx*_gcl_au*Mjg0MjQzMzcxLjE3OTAyMjkzMDM
Image courtesy: PV Productions by Freepik
