Indian Silk Industry Overview: Identifying Consumer Concerns

Background: The Indian silk industry has been booming worldwide, creating a mark for itself. India is home tosome of the most exotic and wide-ranging silks globally. It occupies a distinctive position in the textile industryof India as it plays a significant role by contributing almost 15% of the world's total raw silk production and isalso a dominant contributor to the textile exports from India. The silk industry also plays a significant role inelevating the rural economy of India. India happens to be the largest consumer of silk goods, mainly influencedby traditional clothing practices.Methods: The present paper studies in depth the silk demographics of India. It keenly tracks the silk industryproduction, imports and exports and its future projections. In an attempt to understand the current consumerbehaviour in relation to silk textiles, a survey has been conducted on 200 women aged between 20-60 years.Results and Discussion: The results have been discussed to bring to light the critical consumer concern areasthat the stakeholders in the silk industry need to focus on to strengthen their foothold further. The results of thesurvey highlight that many consumers do not use silk due to the expensive maintenance it requires such asdrycleaning. Various other consumer patterns and concerns have come to light through the survey. The Indiansilk industry is passing through a crucial phase of reorientation and adjustment necessitated by the marketforces. The use of silk is becoming increasingly prevalent in the upcoming sectors such as home textiles andother technical textiles.