Outlook Planet C3: 'Circularity Must Drive Competitiveness,' Says Textile Ministry's Rohit Kansal

Circularity is competitive, not compliance. That idea is steadily reshaping the narrative around India’s textile industry, pushing sustainability out of the realm of regulatory obligation and into the core of economic strategy, said Rohit Kansal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, on Friday. Speaking at the Outlook Planet C3 Summit, Kansal elaborated that the way forward to a sustainable global economy is about making sustainability a competitive edge, and not just making sectors sustainable. He added that the textile sector, in particular, has long practised sustainability, with a recent report by the Ministry highlighting that 95% of pre-consumer textile waste is already recovered and reintegrated into the textile chain.

“This is what is circularity. What does this reflect? A deeply embedded culture of reuse, repair and regeneration,” Kansal said. “Our (India’s) circularity is not industrial. Our circularity is civilisational.”

The textile industry contributes roughly 2.5% to India’s GDP, 10% of merchandise exports, and employs nearly 45 million people, making it the second-largest employer after agriculture. As global buyers tighten sustainability benchmarks, the industry’s ability to integrate reuse, repair and recycling into its production ecosystem is becoming a decisive factor in maintaining export competitiveness.

Recent policy developments underscore this transition, Kansal said. Clusters such as Panipat have emerged as global leaders in mechanical textile recycling, while Tirupur has built scale in wastewater recycling and renewable energy integration. Surat, meanwhile, is experimenting with carbon market-linked environmental frameworks, signalling how traditional manufacturing hubs are adapting to emerging climate-linked trade norms, he highlighted.

Kansal noted that these developments come at a critical juncture. Sustainability-linked trade measures such as the EU’s Ecodesign requirements and carbon border adjustments are expected to reshape sourcing decisions across apparel supply chains. In this environment, circular production models — spanning resale, repair, rental, and fibre-to-fibre recycling — are increasingly becoming market access tools.

India’s advantage lies in combining traditional practices, he said, stressing practices such as reuse and repair with modern digital traceability systems, allowing manufacturers to demonstrate sustainability performance at scale. “Our textile traditions are built not on disposability, but on durability. Not on extraction, but on regeneration. Not on excess, but on value.”

As policymakers shift their role from regulator to ecosystem builder, the sector’s transformation suggests that circularity is no longer a peripheral ESG objective, but a strategic lever to retain global relevance. “With our digital infrastructure, our strong manufacturing base, our history and philosophy of circularity, and our entrepreneurial ecosystem, we are building circular models at scale,” Kansal said in his concluding remarks. “But this will also require a change in mindset. We must learn to see circularity and sustainability not as cost, not as compliance, but as competitive advantage.”