India’s largest textile trade exhibition, Bharat Tex 2026, opened this week at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, drawing a bigger international footprint than its two previous editions as the government leans on the event to push trade deals and state-led manufacturing investment.
Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh inaugurated the four-day event on July 14, calling it a project close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for the sector. Singh said exhibitor, buyer and visitor numbers have grown every year since the exhibition launched, with more than 60,000 buyers and exhibitors from 160 countries attending this year alongside a strong turnout of small and medium enterprises.
Ahead of the opening, Bharat Tex Trade Federation Chairman Naren Goenka told ANI the third edition had attracted stronger participation than either of its predecessors, with buyers from 160 countries expected over the four days. Goenka said roughly 65-70% of exhibitors were returning participants, a sign, he said, of the event’s growing weight in the industry. He added that a new international pavilion, housed in a dedicated hangar, would feature eight or nine country participants for the first time.
A Ministry of Textiles release put the event’s scale at more than 1,600 exhibitors, over 7,000 buyers and around 130,000 trade visitors, with more than 20,000 textile products on display across 1.6 million square feet of exhibition space. The ministry said the exhibition would facilitate over 4,000 curated business-to-business meetings and generate more than 30 memorandums of understanding spanning trade, investment, technology and sustainability, alongside more than 100 knowledge sessions on trade, sustainability, technical textiles and global sourcing.
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The event, organised by the Bharat Tex Trade Federation with Ministry of Textiles backing, is built around Modi’s “5F Vision” — Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign — and is positioned as a platform spanning the full textile value chain rather than exports alone. Minister of State for Textiles Pabitra Margherita and textiles ministers from several states joined the inauguration.
State governments took a prominent role on the second day of the event, with Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra each staging sessions to pitch their manufacturing ecosystems to investors. Uttar Pradesh Handloom and Textiles Minister Rakesh Sachan presented the state’s apparel, handloom and handicraft base, while Karnataka highlighted its industrial strengths for companies looking to expand sourcing operations. Maharashtra Textiles Minister Sanjay Savkare positioned his state as a hub for technical textiles and technology-driven manufacturing.
Trade policy featured heavily in the day’s programme. A session organised by ITMF and ASSOCHAM examined how to build local manufacturing capability into global textile value chains, while a Deloitte-organised roundtable looked at how India’s free trade agreements could widen market access for textile exporters and sourcing companies. A separate ministerial discussion, also organised by Deloitte, focused on the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and its potential to expand textile trade and investment between the two countries.
Fashion designers Rahul Mishra and Vaishali Shadangule took part in a discussion on building “Brand India” in overseas retail markets, while the National Institute of Fashion Technology hosted a session on scaling Indian fashion enterprises globally. Heartland Industries led a separate discussion on building tariff-safe, traceable hemp supply chains as companies look to diversify sourcing beyond China.
Organisers also presented the CITI Textile Sustainability Awards 2026, recognising companies across seven categories including resource efficiency, circular economy practices and social responsibility.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is scheduled to visit the exhibition on July 17, the event’s final day, where he will tour the state’s pavilion and meet exhibitors. Bharat Tex 2026 runs through July 17 at Bharat Mandapam.