Start your textile manufacturing and export business in Surat

The two dominant aspects of Surat’s economy are the diamond and textile export businesses. The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) is keen on ‘Made in Surat’ for local traders and ‘Make in Surat’ for outside business persons. Textile manufacturing entails a conversion of fibre to yarn and then to the fabric. These are printed or dyed and stitched into clothes.

Textile business plan & cost

While you make a textile business plan, consider the below points:

Research the market - Understand the product demand, competition and existing price in the market.

Choose the right suppliers - Source the right fabric or other raw materials by finding manufacturers or vendors who offer good quality along with a wide variety of materials.

Determine the capital requirements - Know the type and amount of capital you need, basis the textile business cost involved.

Look for finance - Basis your capital needs, choose among the various funding options available.

How To start a textile business

Textile manufacturing entails the conversion of fibre to yarn and then fabric. These are printed or dyed and stitched into clothes. You can open a manufacturing unit for any of these processes, or you can be the manufacturer of textile equipment, dyes and so on. If you don’t know how to start a manufacturing business, first you need land, leased or bought.

Once the premises are taken care of, your other major expense is the equipment - power looms, ring spinning machine, Simplex frames, textile testing equipment, etc.

For processes after spinning, some of the major equipment that you will require includes:

• Power looms for weaving
• Knitting machines
• Tufting machines

Additional Read: Tips to expand your manufacturing business

On average, a ring-spinning machine costs Rs. 25 lakh. A fabric laser cutting machine can cost between Rs. 4.5 lakh to Rs. 10.5 lakh. On the lower end, the rapier loom costs Rs. 3 lakh - Rs. 10 lakh.

Textile export business

If you are an exporter in the textile industry, building a network is key to growing your export business. It is important to participate in events like ‘Textiles India’ by the Powerloom Development & Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) to find buyers.

Active participation in trade fairs, buyer-seller meets, B2B portals is also vital. With the ‘Make/Made in Surat’ initiative gathering impetus from the SMC, major costs involved in purchasing equipment and an unsecured business loan can help kickstart your business growth.

Additional Read: Most profitable manufacturing businesses to start in 2019