The Customization Revolution: How Digital Printing is redefining the Indian textile landscape

11 April 2026, Mumbai

Within the sprawling halls of the Bombay Exhibition Center, amidst the rhythmic hum of high-speed industrial looms and the sharp scent of fresh ink, a pivotal gathering of textile veterans and tech disruptors took place at the Gartex Texprocess India Talks. The session, titled "Digital Textile Printing (DTP): The Next Frontier of Customization," served as a high-stakes "reality check" for an industry standing at a historic crossroads.

Moderated by Sanjay Chawla, founder of DFU Publications and a 40-year industry veteran, the panel moved beyond the typical optimism of a trade show to address a pressing question: In a world shifting from mass production to "mass confusion," is the Indian textile industry moving fast enough to survive?

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Beyond the "Black Car" Era: Decoding customization

Sanjay Chawla opened the dialogue with a sharp historical parallel, citing Henry Ford’s famous edict that customers could have a car in any color "as long as it is black." In the modern fashion context, Chawla noted, that era is dead. "A customer today doesn't just want black; they want to see 17 shades of black, they want it on a specific sustainable fabric, and they wanted it delivered yesterday," he remarked.

The panel defined this new frontier as a total shift in power. In the traditional model, manufacturers dictated the range. Today, the consumer holds the remote control. However, Chawla introduced a critical "twist": customization is a premium value, but it only works if factories can produce a unique, single piece at a price point that mimics mass production.

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Table 1: Global vs. Indian DTP Market Snapshot (2026)

The Reality Check: Global shifts and local hurdles

Dario Bernasconi, Senior Pre-Sales Engineer at MS Printing Solutions, provided a global perspective on where the value is being created. He noted a fundamental transition from simply replacing old machines to pioneering entirely new chemistries. "The first step was replacing conventional machines to reduce pollution," Bernasconi explained. "Now, we are forcing the next step: introducing new pigment solutions to create a truly water-less process."

In India, however, the adoption is often stalled by what Arihant Jain, founder of Apparel Tech, described as a "delaying tactic" by traditional printers. Jain argued that the old methods were too limited by color palettes. "Earlier, if an FMCG brand had a multi-color logo, the printer would ask them to change their logo or palette because it was too hard to print conventionally," Jain recalled. "Digital has solved this. We are now selling what people actually demand, not just what the machines are capable of printing."

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The "Expensive Asset" Fallacy

Dr. M. P. Raghav Rao, Managing Director of Fujifilm Sericol India, addressed the technical "bottleneck" that often leads to failure: the ink. He cautioned that without understanding ink-head technology and chemistry, a digital printer is just an "expensive asset." "It is not that the technology is underestimated, but the awareness is limited," Dr. Rao stated. "We need more entrepreneurs to start with a deep understanding of the chemistry, and more Indian OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to shrink the gap between the machine and the final output."

The Economics of Efficiency: A case study in labor

Deepak Siddharth K, CEO of RDX Digital Technologies, challenged the persistent myth that digital printing is too expensive for the Indian market. Drawing on a 15-year case study of his own printing business, he provided a breakdown of the labor-to-volume ratio.

In a traditional setup, a specific volume of work might require 15 workers to manage the screens, color mixing, and manual labor. In a digital environment, that same volume is managed by just three people. "India is heavily populated, yet everyone in this hall will tell you their number one problem is finding labor," Deepak noted. "Digital printing isn't just a technology shift; it’s a solution to the labor shortage."

He further argued that AI is the catalyst for this economic shift. By using AI prompts, designers can move from "mind to physical sample in five minutes." This eliminates the need for "color masters" and the traditional requirement of a 20-30 kg Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) just to see if a design works.

The Sustainability Truth: Profit over emotion

The panel offered a refreshingly blunt take on "green" manufacturing. Deepak Siddharth K argued that "nobody really bothers about sustainability unless they make profits." He redefined the USP of digital sustainability: it isn't just about using less dye or water; it’s about reducing landfill waste. "If you make 100 garments hoping they sell, you risk 90 of them going to a landfill. With digital, you make 10 garments you know will sell. You save the water from the cotton plantation, the electricity from the spinning mill, and the waste of the unsold product. That is the true sustainable math."

Strategic roadmap for MSMEs and new entrants

For small-to-medium enterprises (MSMEs) looking to enter the space, the panel suggested a "Hybrid" approach as the most viable path forward. Arihant Jain pointed out that the barrier to entry has dropped significantly, allowing small owners to compete with industry giants because they no longer require massive, sprawling plants. Today, a small business owner with a well-designed website and a compact digital printer can effectively challenge large factory owners who are still tethered to traditional, high-overhead infrastructure.

However, the panel also addressed the "Tirupur Dilemma," a common scenario where high-volume screen printing remains more cost-effective for simple designs. The solution lies in the Hybrid Model, which combines the best of both worlds. Deepak Siddharth K explained that while digital is revolutionary, it cannot yet replicate certain physical textures like "puff" prints, foils, or glitters with the same efficiency as traditional methods.

To bridge this gap, the most successful Indian factories are now integrating digital printing heads onto automated screen carousels. This allows a manufacturer to use a traditional screen for the under-base—often using discharge or white ink because it is significantly cheaper—while simultaneously using the digital component to overlay millions of colors and intricate AI-generated details. The process is then completed in the same cycle by using another screen to apply special effects like puff, glitter, or foil. This integrated strategy ensures that MSMEs don't have to choose between digital innovation and the tactile special effects that current market trends demand.

The 5-Year Outlook: A narrative of change

Looking toward the future, the panelists collectively see an industry that will look unrecognizable by the turn of the decade. Dr. Raghav Rao predicts that the packaging segment will experience the most radical leap forward, as digital tech moves beyond fabric into high-end, customized consumer packaging. This will be supported by a cultural shift described by Arihant Jain as a move from "mass production to uniqueness," where the value of a garment is tied to its individuality rather than its volume.

Dario Bernasconi firmly believes that pigment technology will become the global standard, offering a nearly dry process that meets the rising environmental regulations of Europe and Taiwan. Finally, Deepak Siddharth K offered a bold statistical forecast, suggesting that we are currently at a tipping point. He predicts that within the next three to five years, digital printing will capture 30% to 40% of the total market share in India.

The conclusion was clear: Digital textile printing is no longer about printing differently; it is about rethinking the entire production lifecycle and, most importantly, deciding to adapt before the market moves on without you.

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