AVPN, Shahi and Good Business Lab (GBL) co-hosted “Threads of Transition: Financing a Low-Carbon, Inclusive Textile Industry” at the Shahi Faridabad Facility. This day-long immersive curtain-raiser for the AVPN Global Conference 2026 brought philanthropic funders, impact investors, multi-stakeholder groups and innovators out of standard conference halls and directly into the rhythm of an active production environment.

Across Asian manufacturing hubs, the textile sector contributes roughly 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions while providing livelihoods for over 90 million people, the majority of whom are women. As delegates gathered, the opening discussions framed four foundational inquiries for the day: understanding why proven green innovations struggle to scale, distinguishing real operational risks from simple unfamiliarity, exploring how catalytic funding can de-risk commercial investment, and shifting from isolated facility pilots to industry-wide transformation.

Shahi’s Decarbonization Journey

Priydarshini Gouthi from Shahi’s ESG and Innovation team opened the presentations by introducing the audience to the challenge of driving decarbonization across the apparel value chain, using Shahi Exports as a case study. She touched upon the various efforts that Shahi has undertaken to mitigate emissions, including building over 143 megawatts (MW) of captive renewable energy capacity, transitioning thermal boilers to biomass, implementing energy-efficient measures, and reducing water intensity.

Underpinning the climate transition efforts is a focus on driving innovation through the ‘scout- to-scale’ process, in which Shahi applies a structured five-stage pathway to identify, evaluate, test, and eventually scale the best solutions.

Decarbonization, Financing, and the Just Transition

Aravindan Srinivasan from AVPN moderated a discussion with Anant Ahuja (Shahi Exports), Christiane Dolva (H&M Foundation), Karan Kumar (Laudes Foundation), and Eshika Gombar (Good Business Lab).

The conversation opened with a shared call to demystify climate action, ensuring conversations stay accessible and grounded in shop-floor realities. Anant Ahuja emphasized that while regulatory frameworks such as India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme and brands’ net-zero targets create urgency, the operational and financial burden of piloting new technologies falls heavily on manufacturers. Christiane Dolva and Karan Kumar highlighted that philanthropic foundations must deploy catalytic risk capital to absorb early piloting uncertainties, prove commercial viability, and overcome the bottleneck between pilot innovations and market-wide adoption.

The panelists stressed the importance of long-term co-creation between brands, innovators, and suppliers. Anant pointed to Shahi’s partnership with innovators, which required more than two years of iterative on-site trials before it was possible to confidently set specific targets. Eshika shared evidence showing that environmental upgrades directly support worker well-being: replacing older lighting with energy-efficient light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures across 26 factories reduced electricity demand and lowered ambient heat on the shop floor. Similarly, operational adaptations such as structured hydration and rest breaks during extreme heat protect health and reduce on-site medical clinic visits without lowering production output. 

Her insights came in the backdrop of GBL’s work with  MSMEs to adopt energy-efficient technologies that cut both costs and emissions, supporting decarbonization across the textile sector without compromising worker health. The session concluded with a call for stable state policies, such as grid transmission fee waivers for off-site solar energy, to help small and medium enterprises adopt clean technologies.

Factory Floor Immersion

After stepping out of the conference room, delegates walked the shop floor at our Faridabad facility to observe apparel manufacturing firsthand. The guided walkthrough followed the journey of a garment through pre-production Sampling, fabric Cutting and waste segregation, assembly Sewing lines, quality Finishing, Packaging, Centralized Washing, Boilers, and the on-site Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP). 

Walking through the production lines gave delegates a tangible view of industrial scale and operational complexity. Attendees observed how material flow, thermal steam distribution, water recycling systems, and line balancing work together in real time. The tour highlighted how physical safety measures, ergonomic workstations, and resource-efficient machinery operate alongside welfare facilities to create a safe, supportive, and dignified workplace.

The Ultimate Game of  Waste Management with Thumbi Labs

In the afternoon, Thumbi Labs led an interactive simulation that placed participants in the roles of enterprise decision-makers managing the post-consumer textile lifecycle.

Delegates experienced the direct friction between financial viability and environmental sustainability as they balanced collection costs, logistics, and debt repayment against the risk of textile waste ending up in landfills. Managing capital constraints such as choosing between formal bank loans at 11% interest and informal credit at 36% interest revealed how access to finance dictates an enterprise’s ability to scale. The simulation made it clear that enterprises working in isolation quickly faced insolvency, whereas businesses that formed regional alliances, shared processing infrastructure, and coordinated collection networks successfully built viable, low-waste circular models.

The Road Ahead

The workshop closed with actionable takeaways on what the textile ecosystem must prioritize to move from ambition to implementation:

• Start: Involving manufacturers from the beginning to co-design transition roadmaps, realistic timelines, and procurement criteria.
• Stop: Re-diagnosing known industry challenges; move away from repetitive high-level reports and focus on financing execution.
• Continue: Building candid platforms for multi-stakeholder dialogue, expanding blended finance mechanisms that absorb initial risks, and supporting innovators on the ground.

Grounding climate conversations in the daily realities of manufacturing proves that true sustainability requires shared accountability. Shahi remains committed to working with platforms such as AVPN, brand partners, research institutions, and innovators to build a low-carbon, resilient, and inclusive future for apparel manufacturing.