India’s Textile & Apparel Sector: Revenue Growth Masks a Profitability Squeeze
India’s listed textile and apparel companies collectively recorded consolidated sales of Rs. 93,492 crore in H1 FY26, an 11% increase over H1 FY25, basis an analysis of 310 listed companies. The headline growth, however, tells only part of the story: EBITDA margins remained flat at 8% across the sector, signalling that revenue scale is not translating into improved earnings quality.
The divergence between textiles and apparel is the more instructive signal.
Textile companies (WTI): Consolidated sales from the top 10 players declined 4% to Rs. 27,279 crore in H1 FY26, with average EBITDA margins contracting 1 percentage point to 10%. Raw material costs held steady at 60% of sales, but employee costs ticked up. Among individual players, Welspun Living saw an 18% revenue decline while Indorama Synthetic bucked the trend with 33% growth.
Apparel companies (WAI): The top 5 players delivered a stronger picture — consolidated revenue grew 9% to Rs. 11,200 crore in H1 FY26. Yet EBITDA margins fell 1 percentage point to 6%, with raw material costs rising to 68% of sales. PDS led at Rs. 6,419 crore (+8% YoY); Kitex Garments saw a sharp 22% revenue decline.
On the trade front, India’s overall T&A exports grew just 1% in H1 FY26 to USD 17,912 million. Apparel exports rose 4% to USD 7,786 million, while filament exports contracted sharply by 28%. The USA remains the top export destination with a 29% value share, but US T&A imports from all origins dropped 22%, with India’s receipts declining 11% to USD 4.6 billion. The EU market remained flat at EUR 59.5 billion total imports, with India’s share holding at EUR 3.7 billion.
The profitability-versus-growth gap, visible across both sub-sectors, is the defining structural constraint heading into H2.
