CITI: 38% of Indian textile firms still operate without digital systems
A CITI study highlights uneven adoption of AI, automation and digital tools across India’s textile and apparel sector, with skills shortages, limited investment capacity and weak technology readiness slowing transformation.
What happened
Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) · CITI study finds India’s textile and apparel sector is adopting AI, automation and digitalisation unevenly,
Key facts
- 38% of textile firms operate without digital systems
Why this matters
Brands, platforms and technology providers can use the sector’s low digital readiness to pursue partnerships or acquisitions that add supplier digitisation, automation and traceability capabilities.
What to watch
- CITI or government data showing the share of firms using ERP, AI, automation and digital production tracking.
- Major Indian retailers, marketplaces and export buyers mandating electronic order, inventory or traceability integrations.
- Adoption of digital public infrastructure, textile traceability standards or incentive programs tied to technology upgrades.
- Lead-time, rejection-rate and inventory-accuracy gaps between digitised exporters and smaller unconnected suppliers.
- Credit, leasing or SaaS-financing programs targeted at textile MSMEs.
- Consolidation of export orders toward larger integrated Indian textile groups.
- Prioritise digitally mature textile and apparel suppliers for omni-channel assortment, replenishment and private-label programs.
- Create tiered supplier scorecards covering ERP integration, inventory accuracy, production visibility, traceability and digital compliance readiness.
- Offer shared implementation support, preferred-order commitments or financing partnerships for strategic mid-sized suppliers adopting core systems.
- Build dual-source contingencies for fast-turn and high-variation categories where supplier data visibility is essential.
- Use purchase-order, sell-through and returns data to identify categories where digital supplier integration can most reduce lead times and excess inventory.