The modern communications revolution has led to the formation of a global village. And the tussle for market shares has already begun. And the textile industry is not immune from this global winds.
In Italy a cluster of small specialized textile firms are competing on end products, Germans weave for 24 hours under "lights out" arrangement, Total quality Management is ensured in Japanese and American plants, 'looming robots ' are installed and firms in Southern USA are reported to be researching the use of genetic engineering, cellular biology and tissue culture to grow colored cotton.

And India needs to compete in these circumstances. The challenges before the Indian textile Industry are:

* long manufacturing and delivery times 
* competition between small, medium and large players among themselves
* complete lack of indigenous R & D efforts
* competition between links of supply chain viz. cotton producers, spinners, weavers etc.
* inadequate process control, 
* outdated technology.

 At present Chinese textile firms are imparting 70 hrs. of training each year to an experienced worker as opposed to 10 hrs. by Indian firms, investing in R&D for New Application Areas, addressing the issue of quality systematically and also canalizing export through centralized channels. 

 The 3C's of Commitment, Co-ordination and Co-operation need to be applied at all levels by the industry to be able to maintain its presence in the global market.