The largest convergence of the sporting industry in India, The Times Of India Global Sports Business Show 2017 on its 2^nd day focused on ISPO academy and the textile value chain.

The Chief Guest of the day, Mr. J M Balamurugan, IAS, Secretary – Sports and Youth Services, Government of Punjab addressed the state of sports in the country. Laying emphasis on the growth in this segment, he said, “Given that we are a country of 1.3 billion people, there is a huge scope for sports revolution. The solution to improve is complex, multi-dimensional, multi-pronged yet possible. The efforts need to begin at the base level; at schools. Another factor that needs emphasis is financial security for the sportsperson, we need to create gainful employment for them post retirement.”

Talking about the sustainability development goals 2030 and their implementation with the textile value chain, Mr. Reiner Hengstmann, Go4More, Stuttgart, Germany highlighted the 17 goals structured by the UN. Mr. Hengstmann added, “Sustainability and business must work hand in hand. It’s the need of the hour that companies and brands look for sustainable solutions and for consumers to be more aware about what and how of the making of the product. We need to move from linear business model to circular model where the motto is make-take-recycle.”

Addressing the options and risks of digitalization for the textile industry, Mr. Anton Schuman, Ghezri Textile Organization, Zurich, Switzerland, said, “Traditional value chain is changing due to digitalization; the driver being the consumer; digitalization has enabled the industry to create realities that were unthinkable at some point. He advised the delegates to innovate, adapt digitalization, change the point of view and do it with passion and write history.”

Present at the show Yavuz Mogul- Verwegener & Trefflich, Leipzig, Germany, said, sustainability is the biggest challenge in sport business and the ways to tackle are communicate, educate, be transparent and digitalize.  Sharing his plans for Andhra Pradesh, Dr. N Bangara Raju stated that he wants to make  60% of Andhra Pradesh’s people sports active by the year 2029.

Navdeep Sondhi, Gherzi Textile Organization, shared, according to a survey the global textile, apparel consumption was 90 million tons in 2016. The future of textile apparel consumption market will be India and China due to rapid growth in disposable income and younger population. In a fire chat session Harit Mehta, MD, Haren Textiles, discussed the challenges that Indian companies faces , the need for digitization and working with the supply chain.

The evening saw some interesting presentations and case studies by Linz, Austria, Sanjay Kumar and ended by session by Robert Schroots, S2R, and Geneva Switzerland.