The global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lock-down by several countries will have a lasting impact on all the sectors of our economy and the textile sector is no exception. The Indian textile sector, with a market size of approximately US$150 billion, contributes 7% to the industrial output, 2% to the country's GDP and 15% to the total export earnings. Cotton, with 59% stake in the total textile segment in India, is a widely traded commodity. Cotton production provides livelihood to about 10 million Indian farmers and generates employment for 40 to 50 million persons engaged in its processing and trade. India is also the world's largest producer, second largest exporter of raw cotton and largest exporter of cotton yarn. The Indian cotton textile industry is very diverse extending from several small-scale, hand spun / hand woven enterprises to state-of-the-art automated mills, each with a different degree of resilience. It is imperative to analyse the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on this sector and to suggest measures to mitigate the crisis. The analysis made in this article is based on the current situation and is not conclusive since the pandemic is evolving and the final picture is still obscure.
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