New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS): Bharat Tex 2024, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 26, is set to be India’s largest global textile event with the participation of buyers from 100 countries and over 100 international speakers.

The event promises to be a tapestry of tradition and technology, attracting, besides policymakers and global CEOs, over 3,500 exhibitors, over 3,000 buyers from over 100 countries, and more than 50,000 trade visitors, said Rachna Shah, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles on Friday.

“The event has received an overwhelming response with leading global textile companies including Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Vero Moda, Coats, Toray, H&M, Gap, Target, Levis, Kohl’s, having confirmed their presence,” she said.

She said that business delegations from key textiles hubs including the US, the UK, Australia, Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and multilateral organisations and global textile associations are also participating.

She said that the four-day event will cover over 22 lakh sq ft exhibition area spread across two venues at Bharat Mandapam and Yashobhoomi in the national capital.

“The event, inspired by the 5F Vision of the Prime Minister, has a unified Farm to Fashion focus, and will cover the entire value chain. It will help position India as a global powerhouse in textiles, showcasing its capabilities and generating momentum throughout the entire Indian textiles ecosystem,” Rachna Shah said.

She said that the event will be organised by a consortium of 11 Textile Export Promotion Councils and supported by the Ministry of Textiles, Bharat Tex is built on the twin pillars of trade and investment and with an overarching focus on sustainability and resilient supply chains.

“Major Textiles States in the country including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Karnataka are participating with dedicated pavilions and government representations,” she said.

She said that the Bharat Tex exhibition features apparel, home furnishings, floor coverings, fibres, yarns, threads, fabrics, carpets, silk, textiles based handicrafts, technical textiles and many more.

“It will also have a retail High Street focusing on India’s fashion retail market opportunities,” she said.

She said that other attractions of the show will include dedicated pavilions on sustainability and recycling showcasing actual work done by individual industry as well as clusters like Panipat, Tirupur and Surat, an Indi-Haat showcasing India’s traditional sector of Handicrafts and Handlooms, over 10 Fashion shows spread across four days on diverse themes ranging from Indian Textiles Heritage to sustainability and global designs.

“Bharat Tex will also feature art demonstrations by master craftsmen, interactive fabric testing zones and product demonstrations and showcase of global fashion trends,” she said.

She said that it will also feature a global scale conference with 350 speakers to deliberate on issues and challenges faced by the global textiles industry and India’s strengths that can be leveraged to address these issues.

“Over 40 per cent of all sessions will focus on the three pillars of Sustainability, Resilient Value Chains and Indian prowess in the global textiles industry,” she said.

She added that there will also be three country sessions and five state sessions on opportunities, investment and trade besides sessions on Global Mega Trends shaping the future of Textiles industry and Factory of the Future with emphasis on AI and BlockChain based smart manufacturing

“A Textiles Grand Innovation Challenge to leverage the pool of untapped innovation opportunities to identify new and innovative futuristic circular solutions, with proven concepts, with high potential to be replicable and scalable in India’s Textiles and Apparel industry shall also be launched at the event,” she said.

She said that a specially curated pavilion in Bharat Tex narrates the story of Indian textiles as an unbroken continuum – from the past to present to the future.