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India\u2019s textile sector is moving steadily towards sustainability, but key gaps still remain across the value chain. From fragmented processing units and uneven compliance to high water and chemical usage, the industry continues to face challenges in meeting global benchmarks. With rising pressure from EU and US regulations on traceability, ESG reporting and circularity, India must accelerate adoption of cleaner technologies and transparent supply chains. In this interview, Naresh Tyagi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail<\/strong>, shares insights on India\u2019s readiness and the urgent priorities ahead.<\/p>\n India\u2019s textile value chain has made steady progress on sustainability, but there are still some clear challenges to work through. One of the biggest issues is how fragmented the sector is\u2014especially in processing\u2014where many small and medium units operate with limited access to cleaner technologies and strong compliance systems. As a result, sustainability performance can vary widely across the industry.<\/p>\n Managing water use and chemicals remains a major concern, particularly in dyeing and finishing. While some leading companies have moved ahead by adopting global best practices, these approaches are not yet common across the board.<\/p>\n Another growing challenge is traceability. As global markets increasingly expect visibility across the entire supply chain, the lack of tracking is becoming harder to ignore. At the same time, circularity is still at an early stage, with fibre-to-fibre recycling yet to reach meaningful scale.<\/p>\n Today, the parts of the value chain closest to brands and consumers are generally better prepared on sustainability. Regular engagement with customers has pushed these segments to move faster\u2014especially on issues like workplace safety, social compliance, and improving day-to-day operations. There has also been meaningful progress in building more inclusive workplaces, with more opportunities opening up for women.<\/p>\n That said, the story looks different further upstream. Stages like raw material production and processing still carry a heavier environmental burden. To create real, lasting impact, sustainability efforts will need to reach deeper into these earlier stages of the value chain.<\/p>\n Sustainability efforts are best seen as long-term investments rather than short-term costs. While some actions do require upfront spending, they often pay back over time through better efficiencies, lower use of resources, and reduced operating costs. Just as importantly, they help organisations stay prepared for changing regulations and market expectations.<\/p>\n Many organisations are now starting to treat sustainability performance as a core part of how the business is run, tracking it alongside financial outcomes. This helps shift the conversation away from \u201cdoing it because we have to\u201d toward \u201cdoing it because it makes business sense.\u201d<\/p>\n On the demand side, sustainability is no longer a differentiator\u2014it is increasingly a basic expectation. Brands and buyers today see it as a minimum requirement for working with suppliers, rather than something they pay extra for. As a result, the real value comes through continued access to markets, stronger long-term partnerships, and being better prepared for the future, rather than immediate financial returns.<\/p>\n India is moving forward in its sustainability journey, but progress is not yet consistent across the entire ecosystem. Larger, more integrated companies tend to be further along, actively aligning with global expectations and investing in areas like transparency, reporting, and emissions reduction. At the same time, many smaller businesses will need additional support to keep pace with new and emerging requirements.<\/p>\n Being early adopters of global standards and traceability tools has helped some organisations stay better prepared for what lies ahead. Looking forward, sustained progress will depend not just on individual efforts, but on collective action\u2014building capabilities, sharing knowledge, and working together across the value chain to ensure everyone can move forward together.<\/p>\n India has strong potential to become a global leader in sustainable textiles. Its scale, variety of raw materials, and deep pool of skilled workers give the country a solid foundation to build on.<\/p>\n At the same time, competition from countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Turkey remains intense, especially when it comes to tightly integrated supply chains and faster turnaround times. To strengthen its position, India will need to focus on bringing its supply chains closer together, improving infrastructure, and supporting smaller businesses so they can keep pace with changing expectations.<\/p>\n From an industry standpoint, many companies are already showing that sustainability can be built into operations at scale and aligned with core business goals. These efforts play an important role in reinforcing India\u2019s reputation as a reliable, responsible, and future-ready sourcing destination.<\/p>\n Digital traceability is achievable but requires targeted enablement for MSMEs. The key barriers include cost constraints, data availability, supply chain complexity, limited digital readiness, and lack of awareness. Addressing these challenges will require accessible technology solutions, shared industry platforms, skill development initiatives, and supportive policy frameworks.<\/p>\n In our supplier ecosystem, structured engagement models and sustainability indices have helped bring partners along this journey. Replicating such approaches more widely can support faster and more inclusive adoption.<\/p>\n India is at a critical juncture in its circularity journey. We have an established base in mechanical recycling and reuse, but scaling fibre-to-fibre recycling will require advancements in technology, infrastructure, and ecosystem alignment.<\/p>\n Key priorities include designing products for recyclability, strengthening collection and sorting systems, and building demand for recycled materials.<\/p>\n Through initiatives under our sustainability roadmap, we are actively advancing circular design, responsible sourcing, and industry collaborations. Scaling this further will depend on collective action across stakeholders, including brands, manufacturers, policymakers, and consumers.<\/p>\n The post Naresh Tyagi: India is at a critical juncture in its circularity journey<\/a> appeared first on Indian Textile Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" India\u2019s textile sector is moving steadily towards sustainability, but key gaps still remain across the value chain. From fragmented processing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13,30],"tags":[1370,1371,669,32,1372,221,516,1373,1374,1005,274,270,362,278,861,780,1065,31,1375,1376,300],"class_list":["post-5174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-others","category-textiles","tag-aditya-birla-fashion-and-retail","tag-bangladesh","tag-design","tag-fashion","tag-indias-textile-sector","tag-interviews-opinions","tag-models","tag-msme-challenges","tag-naresh-tyagi","tag-raw","tag-recycled-fibres","tag-spinning","tag-sustainability","tag-sustainable-textiles","tag-technology","tag-textile-recycling","tag-textile-value-chain","tag-textiles","tag-turkey","tag-vietnam","tag-weaving"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-300x213.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-768x544.jpg","large":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-1024x725.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey.jpg","colormag-highlighted-post":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-392x272.jpg","colormag-featured-post-medium":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-390x205.jpg","colormag-featured-post-small":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-130x90.jpg","colormag-featured-image":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-800x445.jpg","colormag-default-news":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-150x150.jpg","colormag-featured-image-large":"https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-1200x600.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"Styched","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd12961bc53f4886ed1e087725cc7d1e94ea1ab645b4698e4fdac10b9b4d6ad8?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"India\u2019s textile sector is moving steadily towards sustainability, but key gaps still remain across the value chain. From fragmented processing","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Lifestyle","Others","Textiles"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":6,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey.jpg",1200,850,false],"medium":["https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-300x213.jpg",300,213,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/styched.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/naresh-tyagi-india-is-at-a-critical-juncture-in-its-circularity-journey-150x150.jpg",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"Styched","author_link":"https:\/\/styched.com\/?author=1"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dd12961bc53f4886ed1e087725cc7d1e94ea1ab645b4698e4fdac10b9b4d6ad8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"Lifestyle<\/a> Others<\/a> Textiles<\/a>","yoast_head":"\nWhat do you see as the biggest sustainability gaps in India\u2019s textile value chain today, and which areas need urgent correction to meet global benchmarks?<\/h4>\n
Among spinning, weaving\/knitting, processing, garmenting and recycling, which segment is currently the most sustainability-ready\u2014and why?<\/h4>\n
How do you evaluate the cost vs ROI of sustainability investments for Indian textile companies? Are brands and buyers willing to pay a premium for sustainable compliance?<\/h4>\n
With EU and US markets tightening norms around carbon footprint, traceability and compliance, how prepared is India to meet upcoming requirements like DPP and stricter ESG reporting?<\/h4>\n
Considering competition from Bangladesh, Vietnam and Turkey, do you believe India can emerge as a global leader in sustainable textiles\u2014or risk falling behind due to fragmented supply chains and MSME challenges?<\/h4>\n
How feasible is digital traceability and product-level transparency for MSME textile units in India, and what support systems are required to enable faster adoption?<\/h4>\n
What is your outlook on India\u2019s progress in circularity, particularly in textile recycling and the use of recycled fibres, and what will it take to scale fibre-to-fibre recycling in the coming years?<\/h4>\n