"India is on the radar screen of major international fabric sourcing companies," said Mr Subodh Kumar, IAS, Textile Commissioner, Government of India. He was addressing a group of over 250 eminent weavers, processors and makers of garments of Viscose Filament Yarn (VFY) who had gathered at the Holiday Inn in Surat, on 19 January 2005. The seminar, titled 'Rayon Redefined' was organized by the Association of Man-Made Fibre Industry of India (AMFII), of which Indian Rayon is an active member. It was the first-ever platform of its kind which attempted to put before the gathering, the world of export opportunities, opening up post the quota regime.

In India, Surat is an important consumer base of VFY, with over 40 per cent of India's production used here to make a variety of items such as sarees, dress material, georgette, crepe, tapestry and elastic tapes. It has over 30,000 looms that use VFY. The world over, demand for fabrics made from VFY is steadily climbing up, with China cashing in on the opportunity in a large way. Said Mr. R.C. Kesar, Director, Okhla Garment & Textile Cluster, "India has competitiveness at all levels of the value chain with skilled labour, large domestic supply and ability to manufacture a wide range of products."

Viscose rayon is an excellent natural fibre - soft, comfortable, easy-to-dye, with silk-like sheen, eco-friendly and available in brilliant shades, said Mr. Ulhas Nimkar, CEO of Texan Lab, Thane. He urged participants to understand the end use of VFY and make every person in the value chain aware of this, so that he understands the repercussion of his action or inaction.

Upholding the point of view of Mr. Rajnibhai Bachkaniwala, Director, Himson Textile Engineering, Pandesara, Surat, Mr. Subodh Kumar emphasized the need to modernize the looms and upgrade technology. "This will help to cater to the increasing quality demanded from international and domestic customers," noted Mr. Bachkaniwala.

Mr Girish Luthra, Managing Director, Luthra Dyeing and Printing Mills, Pandesara, Surat, stressed the need for VFY weavers, processors and other related stakeholders to come together to set up a complete design studio with the latest software, a showroom full of samples, a research studio and a forecasting studio.

Mr Subodh Kumar underlined the fact that the Indian textile Industry is becoming a knowledge industry and knowledge should be shared and imbibed across the whole value chain.

Trendy garments made from fabrics using VFY were displayed at the seminar, evoking great interest. The participants highly appreciated the programme and said that the inputs would be valuable to them in their quest for gaining a piece of the international market.

AMFII has plans for conducting such programmes in other textile clusters such as Mumbai, Tirupur and Salem to improve awareness levels and bring the whole value chain closer together.