Round Table Discussion
Stitching India’s Apparel Strategy:
A Comparative Roadmap for Global Competitiveness
Date: March 18, 2026 (Wednesday) | Venue: Magnolia Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

AGENDA
09:30 – 10:00 am : Registration and Welcome Tea/Coffee

10:00 – 10:10 am : Welcome Remarks and Setting the Context
Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, ICRIER

10:10 – 10:25 am : Special Address by Guest of Honor
Anant Ahuja, Director of ESG and Sustainability, Shahi Exports; CEO & Co-founder, Good Business Lab

10:25 – 10:45 am : Keynote Address by Chief Guest
Rohit Kansal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles

10:45 – 11:15 am : Report Launch & Presentation on
‘Stitching India’s Apparel Export Strategy: Lessons from China, Bangladesh, and Vietnam’, ICRIER

11:15 – 11:30 am : Open Discussion

11:30 – 11:45 am : Tea/Coffee Break

11:45 – 12:45 pm : Panel Discussion I: The Way Ahead: Building India’s T&A Export Competitiveness from Fibre to Fashion
Chair: Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, ICRIER

Panelists:
• Raw material, fibre and weaving: Chandrima Chatterjee, Secretary General, CITI
• MSMEs, clusters and institutional mechanisms: Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum
• Financing for export competitiveness: Ajay Rana, Regional Head, EXIM Bank; and Chandrabhushan Singh, GM & Director, SBI MSME CoE
• Home textiles & export competitiveness: Updeep Singh Chatrath, Resident Director, Welspun World

12:45- 1:45 pm : Panel Discussion II: Beyond Tariffs: Sustainability, Compliance and the Next Phase of Export Growth
Chair: Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, ICRIER

Panelists:
• Beyond tariffs – sustainability and compliance: K. Duraiswamy, Joint Secretary, Tiruppur Exporter Association; and Anurag Gupta, MD, Usha Yarns;
• Branding and global presence: R. Dhamodharan, General Secretary, SIHMA
• Sustainability & apparel competitiveness: Saurabh Kumar, General Manager (R&PA), AEPC
• Future outlook of T&A exports: Kanupriya Gupta, Senior Economist, ADB

01:45 – 01:55 pm : Closing Remarks and Vote of Thanks
Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, ICRIER

01:55 pm onwards : Lunch