India’s Powerloom Development & Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Amsterdam-based data infrastructure firm AWARE™ to accelerate digital traceability adoption in the country’s powerloom sector, as global compliance requirements tighten.
The agreement, signed at Bharat Tex 2026 in New Delhi, aims to prepare Indian textile producers for the European Union’s upcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) regulations under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which will require detailed, verifiable product data across supply chains.
PDEXCIL, the apex body representing India’s powerloom industry, plays a central role in promoting exports and supporting sectoral growth, while AWARE™ provides blockchain-based data infrastructure designed to enable traceability and secure data exchange across textile value chains.
Under the partnership, PDEXCIL will introduce AWARE’s technology to its members and facilitate awareness and adoption through workshops, training sessions and industry engagement programmes. AWARE™ will provide onboarding, technical support and preferential terms to participating producers.
The collaboration comes at a time when traceability is becoming a critical requirement for textile exporters targeting European markets. With textiles among the priority sectors under the EU’s sustainability regulations, producers are under increasing pressure to provide verifiable information on raw material origin, composition and production processes.
Also Read: Huarun Tex Signs $30 Million Deal for Bangladesh Textile Plant
AWARE™’s system uses blockchain-anchored tokenisation to generate a unique data token for each production batch. This token carries authenticated information about the product and travels with it throughout the supply chain, creating a verifiable chain of custody across multiple stages and geographies.
The infrastructure also enables the issuance of blockchain-backed transaction certificates, known as Crypto TCs®, which form a key building block for Digital Product Passports. Importantly, the system is designed to ensure that data remains under the ownership and control of producers, addressing growing concerns around data sovereignty.
“Verified, producer-owned data is not simply a feature. It is access to the market,” said Feico van der Veen, founder and managing director of AWARE™, highlighting the risks of unverifiable sustainability claims in an increasingly regulated global environment.
India’s powerloom sector, which operates at the early stages of the textile value chain, stands to gain significantly from early adoption of traceability systems. Industry experts say that producers capable of offering reliable and portable product data will have a competitive advantage as international buyers shift towards compliance-driven sourcing models.
K. Sakthivel, chairman of PDEXCIL, said the partnership would help Indian manufacturers strengthen their readiness for evolving regulatory requirements while improving global competitiveness.
“The EU Digital Product Passport will bring significant changes to how textile products and production data are presented in international markets,” he said. “This collaboration will support our members in building traceability capabilities while retaining ownership of their data.”
The two organisations plan to initiate pilot implementation projects with selected PDEXCIL member units in the coming months, marking an early step toward broader industry adoption.
As sustainability regulations reshape global textile trade, the partnership signals a shift towards data-driven compliance, with India’s powerloom sector positioning itself to meet the next generation of market requirements.