The capital goods industry is a foundation on which the super structure of any manufacturing sector is built. Because of this the growth of this sector has a close correlation with the overall growth of the industry concerned. It is estimated that the capital goods industry contributes around 9 - 12 per cent of the total value added in the manufacturing sector and therefore it is very important that the overall growth in the capital goods sector either precedes or at least keep pace with the development. It is because of this the Gross Domestic Investment in the capital goods industry has been maintaining a tardy rate of growth in excess of 20 per cent.

With the kind of growth the textile sector is experiencing, it is no surprise that the textile machinery manufacturing is one of the largest capital goods segments in India. The industry has seen the growth of SMEs in critical components sector whereas most of the growth in the machinery sector belongs to the organized sector. It is also heartening to see that the technology transfer has been taking place as part of this growth plan. The central government through the initiatives like TUFs as well as assisting the Special Technical Parks has provided a great phillip to the development of the machinery sector. There are large number of units old as well as new who have embarked upon ambitious plans either expanding or setting up new capacities. The encouragement given by the government of India for foreign collaborations as well as the direct investment can be stated to have played the role.

While there is no denial that the spurt in demand has provided the necessary push encouraging the investments in the capital goods sector, it is also a fact that the industry has its own problems like any other capital goods sector because the capacities can not be created overnight and also in the current regime of decreasing custom tariff barriers the competition from the imported second-hand machinery sector could not have been entirely eliminated. One would therefore not be surprised if there are some voices of criticism blaming the domestic textile machinery sector of being slow to encash upon this advantage. It is felt that it would be unfair to criticize the textile machinery manufacturers without the consideration of the constraints because of the technology and also a slightly longer gestation period. I would tend to agree with Tarun Gulati when he says that the constant challenge has always been to meet expectations of customers. These expectations I believe are in terms of quality, cost and also tight delivery schedules.

It is heartening to note that alongwith the machinery sector the parts and accessory sector has also kept pace with the developments. Like auto parts where India has already become a global hub it is felt that the textile accessories and parts manufacturing sector is yet to come to an age. However the fact that even the export market has started accepting the quality and price gives us a hope that like auto parts, textile accessories and parts sector is also well on the way of earning a global recognition. This assumption is well supported when Suresh Vaidya, President, Indian Textile Accessories and Machinery Manufacturers' Association (ITAMMA) says that "out of the total exports of the textile engineering industry about 50-55 per cent is contributed by the textile accessories and parts sector". Vaidya also fully endorses the contribution of TUFS and MFA of 2005 as stimulants to the growth in the textile industry. With this optimism, it is well within the reach to expect that the textile engineering industry turn over would jump to almost double from Rs.22.12 billion to Rs.40.00 billion by 2010 and anything between Rs.75.00 to Rs.100.00 billion by 2020! With this it is expected that by 2020 the industry may achieve a total export turn over of Rs.30.00 billion of which almost two third i.e. Rs.20.00 billion would be contributed by the parts and accessories sector alone. In fact, those who plan to be little more aggressive on the export front would ultimately be benefited by countering the volatility in the domestic demand. Ultimately this phenomenon may lead to India becoming a global hub for textile accessories, spares and components.

Finally, let us understand that if India is to touch the projected turn over of US $ 150 billion by 2015, it could only be achieved through a healthy growth of the textile machinery sector. Somewhere on the way the sector will have to balance itself between the domestic market and the opportunities in the global field. The experience in some of the sectors like embroidery has shown that China sheer because of the advantage of huge domestic market and aggressive government policies has emerged as one of the major exporters to the Indian market. Indian machinery manufacturing sector will do well to study the profile of the Chinese competition and get ready to respond to the same competently before it takes over. If textile engineering industry succeeds in warding off the competition from the second-hand machinery imports and also the emerging supplies from the Chinese sector the day would arrive for the Indian machinery and parts manufacturers to pronounce that India has also become a global hub in textile machinery and allied sectors. Well the opportunity has already knocked at our doors. It is up to us to respond positively. Let's hope India would do it splendidly. To this hope and optimism I devote this piece.