India’s Ministry of Commerce published foreign trade figures for fiscal 2025-2026 reveal that India’s textile imports like fibre, yarn, fabrics, etc. from China reached US $4.46 billion, marking a 22.5% climb from $3.64 billion during the preceding fiscal.
The lift in imports stems chiefly from supply and demand gaps within the industrial chain. India’s garment export sector continues broadening, yet production capacity remains insufficient for intermediate products such as manmade fabrics and functional textile accessories.
Downstream factories are opting to import Chinese fabrics to plug gaps within the supply chain, with this particular rise in imports concentrated mainly around production-related intermediate textiles.
The climb in imports has stirred competitive unease amongst India’s domestic textile sector, with local firms calling on the government to tighten import controls.
Indian government officials have indicated they will shield the domestic industry through various channels, encompassing customs inspections, compulsory quality certification, and anti-dumping investigations.
For Chinese textile intermediate product exporters, the Indian market displays robust near-term demand resilience, yet the potential for medium- to long-term trade friction cannot be dismissed.
Image courtesy: Freepik
