Being a large country, India has a high domestic demand for textile products. In addition, it acts as a production center for companies that export fashion across the world. This means that the country’s textile industry generates millions of jobs. 

However, not only are textile crops water-intensive but, also, the manufacturing process generates high amounts of waste. Increasingly in the past decade, soil and air pollution from textile waste have drawn attention. For India’s development to meet global sustainability goals, it must minimize this pollution—both by changing consumption patterns and by using green principles in textile manufacturing. 

Canvaloop Fibre of Surat, Gujarat has come up with a two-pronged solution: first, using more carbon-neutral textile crops, and second, converting agricultural waste into textile fibers. In partnership with some of the world’s leading textile brands, its innovation has garnered international recognition for its sustainable approach to fashion.

What products does Canvaloop offer?

Canvaloop had its origins in 2017, when founder Shreyans Kokra was studying ecofriendly textiles as part of a college project. Noting the low carbon impact of hemp, he gathered a team of PhD scientists and designed a fiber based on this plant. This was the company’s first product. Since hemp is not widely cultivated in most parts of India, the bulk of the raw material was imported from the US.

The next step was to consider agriwaste—organic waste generated from agriculture—as a potential source of textile fibers. Since banana generates relatively high quantities of waste in the south of Gujarat, Shreyans’s state, Canvaloop launched a banana-based fiber. As of 2026, its priority crops are linseed, castor, mustard, and other oilseed crops—all high in cellulose content, making them promising for use in cloth manufacturing. Other than this, Canvaloop offers textile products based on pineapple and the Himalayan stinging nettle. 

Each of its products is designed to be as close to traditional textile materials as possible. This makes it easier for fashion companies to adopt them without demanding a major shift in consumption from the public. 

From plant waste to fiber

Transforming waste material from crops into high-quality textiles is a multi-step process. First, water is drained from the plant mass, either through drying or by manually separating its solid and liquid contents. This reduces the weight of the material, ensuring that what reaches Canvaloop’s facilities is mostly usable content. 

Next, at these facilities, the material is mechanically pre-cleaned, purified using biochemical treatments, and softened using enzymatic processes. 

Finally, it is woven into fibers that can be shipped to mills in large quantities.

How Canvaloop contributes to sustainability

After evaluating ~60 crops at its laboratories, Canvaloop has selected 7 for use in plant-based fibers based on environmental impact and supply from the agricultural sector. According to the company’s reports, the in-house manufacturing process saves 99% of the water and 86% of the carbon expended during traditional textile production. Moreover, the company has prevented ~100,000 tons of agriwaste from being burnt in the last five years alone, encouraging farmers to refrain from the crop burning practices that create air pollution across northern India. The same period has also seen Canvaloop contribute to saving ~1 billion liters of water.

The primary markets for the company’s products are around Ahmedabad in the north and the Bangalore belt in the south. Popular brands such as Levi’s, Gap, Target, Eccentric, and Doodlage now procure Canvaloop’s textiles through local mills. 

In recognition of its contributions to sustainable fashion, the company has won a number of awards, including but not limited to the H&M Global Change Award 2026—one of the most prestigious in the fashion industry—and the German Delegation’s Sustainability Award. These have granted it greater visibility in the Indian clothing market.

Meeting the demand for green fashion

Shreyans observes that environmental awareness already exists among both customers and fashion producers. This is what has allowed Canvaloop to build partnerships and gain recognition. The company’s research and development wing is also highly motivated, with plans for a new technology—AgroLyceum, which can transform any organic material into uniform fiber output—underway. 

However, what would be most beneficial for Canvaloop’s further expansion are large-scale product deployments by leading manufacturers. If a recognized leader in the industry were to publicly commit to sourcing a given percentage of their textile fibers from agriwaste, other producers would follow suit, shifting the entire market. 

State governments in India could use tax or debt incentives to hasten this shift. Additionally, they could invest in more backend infrastructure to aggregate agricultural waste at the farm level to increase profitability. Such steps would enable much greater water and carbon savings, helping India meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.