second largest manufacturer and exporter of personal protective equipment ppe the minister said when covid19 pandemic hit indian shores not many across the globe were confident of indias response today as minister of textiles i can say that one of the greatest examples of indian resilience was given by the indian textiles industry in the manufacturing of ppe suits provision for which was among the consistent demands of frontline workers and the medical community was across the worldwhile the textiles industry was not prepared for it it rose to this challenge it was an effort which involved almost all ministries and industry segments in support of indian textiles industry she saidhighlighting the fact how industry giants held hands in support of smes in india she informed about how a sme apparel manufacturing company wanted to contribute to the ppe story by reorienting their manufacturing processes and make ppe suits for medical community so that they could contribute to national cause but lacked finances for machinery and other equipment and on her request anil agawal executive chairman vedanta resources limited came forward to help themso as we celebrate the fact that today india has become the second largest manufacturer and exporter of ppes we celebrate the true indian potential to partner with one another in times of crisis she saidsharing his perspective niranjan hiranandani president assocham assured industrys full support to the government to reach the goals of becoming an aatmanirbhar bharat and 5 trillion economyassocham senior vicepresident vineet agarwal also echoed similar sentiments and lauded the minister for being supportive to indian industrydipali goenka ceo and joint md welspun india said india reigns supreme in cotton handlooms and natural fibres to unlock the next wave of growth we need to focus on mmf and technical textilesdipali added post pandemic global retailers are diversifying their supply chains and india is strongly positioned to have major share of such global changes textile will play a crucial role for a 5 tn inclusive economypriya agarwal hebbar director vedanta said giving back is deeply ingrained in the fabric of our indian culture the onus is on each one of us to support the underprivileged and to work for the betterment of communities so that we can build a better india vedanta in partnership with the ministry of women child development has set up nand ghar that is transforming the anganwadi ecosystem with modern amenities and focuses on eradicating child malnutrition education through elearning access to quality healthcare and empowering women through skill developmentt rajkumar chairman confederation of indian textile industry citi said cotton being the mainstay for the indian textile clothing industry since a long time and major foreign exchange earner for the indian economy the minister zubin irani launched the firstever cotton brand kasturi for the indian textile industry on the occasion of word cotton day celebrated and jointly organized by ministry of textiles and textile trade bodiesbeing the largest cottonproducing country it was the muchawaited demand of the