Durai Palanisamy, Chairman of the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA), highly appreciated and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the completion of the internal processes of the landmark Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Oman in record time and for bringing the agreement into effect from June 1, 2026.

Durai Palanisamy also thanked Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Textiles, for securing what he described as the best possible deal for the textile industry.

The agreement with Oman, India’s second-largest trading partner in the Gulf region, was signed on December 18, 2025.

The comprehensive bilateral trade pact offers zero-duty access for 99.38 % of India’s exports, including textile products. The textile industry, which is the country’s second-largest employment generator, provides jobs to more than 11 crore people, predominantly women in rural areas.

He said that the proactive initiatives of the Central Government, coupled with the five new schemes announced in the recent Union Budget exclusively for the textile sector, along with various other schemes and policy interventions, would accelerate the growth of the textile industry.

These measures, he said, would help achieve the vision of increasing textile exports from US$36 billion to US$100 billion, expanding the industry’s business size from US$172 billion to US$350 billion (including exports), attracting fresh investments of US$100 billion, and creating employment opportunities for 20 million people by 2030.

Durai stated that Indian textile products would gain a tariff advantage of 5 per cent under the agreement and enjoy a level playing field with competing countries such as Bangladesh and Turkey. This, he said, would boost exports of readymade garments and home textiles.

He further noted that the CEPA would benefit all major export clusters in Tamil Nadu, particularly Tiruppur, Coimbatore and Karur, by providing wider market access and enhancing export opportunities.

The SIMA Chairman pointed out that India’s total textile exports to Oman stood at US$94 million during FY 2025-26, compared with Oman’s total textile imports of US$598 million. India currently accounts for around 16 per cent of Oman’s textile imports and ranks as its third-largest supplier.

He said the CEPA would create significant opportunities to further scale up textile exports and increase India’s market share in Oman.

Durai also appreciated the strategic advantages offered by Oman’s logistics hubs at Sohar, Duqm and Salalah, which serve as gateways to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and East Africa. He said these hubs would strengthen India’s regional trade connectivity and support the expansion of textile exports.