India is a key region of Asia with double-digit growth forecast for all the important sectors of the economy.
India is currently one of the most interesting growth markets in global comparison and entitled to become the next Asian giant after China. The country is predicted to become the fastest growing economy in the world. In terms of purchasing-power parity it is already ranking on fourth worldwide. In the financial year 2006/2007 India achieved an impressive GDP of 9.2%. Gross investment in the last economic year accounted for 33.8% of GDP. In future, too, this situation looks set to continue.The eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), published by the government of India, also agrees in the impressive development and projects an economic growth rate of 9% to 10% p.a. Demographic trends, rising investment in education and infrastructure and an increasing integration into the global economy are having a particularly favourable effect on India's growth. The textile sector is making a special contribution to this development.

Development of India's textile industry
The textile and clothing industry plays a key role in the Indian economy. It accounts for 3% of GDP, 14% of industrial output and 24% of all Indian exports. Providing jobs for around 38 million people, it is the biggest employer in the country, after the agricultural sector. Since 2003 textile production in India has increased by 33% and according to predictions, the total production value will reach 85 billion US dollars by 2010. In the 2003/2004 budget year in India, total exports of textiles and yarns were valued at around 12 billion US dollars. Over 500 million US dollars per year are spent on imports of machinery, and this figure is rising. As production facilities are being modernised, there is a large demand for capital goods in the industry. Three factors come into play here:

• Import quotas for the EU and the US have been removed as of January 2005
• At the same time import tolls for textile machinery have been reduced to 10%
• The Indian government is giving grants for investment in new machinery.

Demand is rising across the whole product spectrum of textile machinery. Major investment in new technologies and modernisation is planned, for example in the spinning, weaving, knitting, finishing and apparel sectors. For the international supplier, therefore, India represents a market with enormous growth potential.