The primary textile industry in Bangladesh is standing on the brink of collapse as a wave of cheap yarn imports from India floods the domestic market. According to the latest report from the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), yarn imports from the neighboring country surged by a staggering 137 percent during the April-October 2025 period. This influx has left local spinning mills burdened with unsold stock worth Tk 12,000 crore, as they struggle to compete with Indian products sold at dumping prices—approximately $0.30 per kilogram below domestic production costs.

BTMA President Showkat Aziz Russell, speaking at a press conference in Dhaka, revealed that the impact of this "economic aggression" has already forced nearly 50 local spinning mills to shut down in recent years. Russell, who has seen one of his own mills close due to the crisis, emphasized the immense difficulty of reviving a sector that requires investments ranging from Tk 500 to Tk 700 crore per unit. He warned that over-reliance on Indian yarn could jeopardize the entire national garment sector if supply is ever unilaterally disrupted. "If Bangladesh depends heavily on Indian yarn, they may stop supplying it suddenly, putting our garment sector in trouble," Russell cautioned.

Former BTMA Director Razeeb Haider added that the surge in imports reached a value of $950 million in just seven months of 2025. This trend has made Bangladesh the largest destination for Indian yarn exports, receiving 44 percent of India's total global supply. According to Haider, local producers, who must sell at $3 per kilogram due to raw material shortages and high operational costs, simply cannot compete with the $2.50 per kilogram price tag of Indian yarn. This disparity is further exacerbated by the Indian government's multi-stage incentives provided to everyone from cotton growers to exporters, creating an unlevel playing field.

Facing an increasingly dire situation, industry leaders are urging the government to introduce policy support within 72 hours to save the primary textile sector, which represents a $23 billion investment. Their recommendations include a 10 to 25 percent cash incentive for garment exports using locally spun yarn, an increase in the Export Development Fund (EDF) at lower interest rates, and import bans on specific yarn types that are already produced in abundance domestically. Without immediate intervention, BTMA leaders fear that Indian control over the country's backward linkage industries will eventually extend to the garment sector itself, threatening the backbone of Bangladesh's export economy.