A recently released report from IndiaMART Knowledge Services suggests that while the market for healthcare services is about to explode, so too is the potential for so-called technical textiles. While the technical textiles market may not reach the same levels as the healthcare sector, the opportunities for growth are big in their own right. How big, how about billion dollar big?
The healthcare sector alone in the United States currently represents a $40 billion U.S. market and by 2020 that number is expected to more than triple to a whopping $142 billion. The technical textiles market, meanwhile, represents a comparatively small $409 million, but thanks to the overall jump in the sector, the technical textiles market has the potential to make a similar and slightly faster jump from its current levels to $1 billion by the 2016-2017 corridor.
The report, generated for the apparel and fashion accessories industry from IndiaMART Knowledge Services, is geared specifically for SMEs--small and medium-sized snterprises--and includes some very interesting points in its own right. Key among these is that online business activity for SMEs currently involved in the technical textiles sector increased 38.7 percent over the same time last year. Moreover, the recent terrible conditions experienced by much of the world's economy of late has not been felt nearly as hard in textiles, as many have an optimistic outlook on future sales. But the IndiaMART report looks for a home field advantage, as India increases its share of the global textile industry from its current market share of 4.5 percent to a near-doubling to eight percent.
Given that the textiles industry within the apparel and fashion accessories sector is one of India's most important industries, it's not surprising to hear optimistic forecasting emerging from same. Word also suggests that the report mirrored many previously-expressed beliefs from SMEs in and around the area, like a lack of access to credit and the like. Thus, some may feel justified in taking the report with a grain of salt. But given IndiaMART's presence in the SME sector offering products to help generate leads, establish credibility, and more--they would be well-placed to know not only what the industry thinks but also what's going on around it.
Still though, the central premise is one that's hard to refute. The healthcare sector is climbing at a rapid pace, and those providing products and services geared toward said sector will likely have a rosy near-term future as more baby boomers reach retirement age and thus begin using more healthcare services. Whether or not the numbers for the industry and for the technical textiles industry reach IndiaMART's projected levels, however, will remain to be seen.
Edited by
Jamie Epstein
