Govt Gears Up To Boost Technical Textiles Base In The Country

Tech Textiles & Nonwovens

Govt Gears Up To Boost Technical Textiles Base In The Country

The Union Finance Minister has proposed to set up a National Technical Textiles Mission with a four-year implementation period from 2020-21 to 2023-24 at an estimated outlay of Rs 1,480 crore. This along with abolition of anti-dumping duty on PTA (Purified Terephthalic Acid) will go a long way in boosting the technical textile base in the country.The demand for technical textiles in India is growing at a rapid pace, even as the country imports significant quantity of technical textiles worth US$ 16 billion every year. Better supply of PTA, the major raw material for the MMF sector, will help boost the supply of raw material for the technical textiles production in a big way. "The proposal to set up the National Technical Textiles Mission is a welcome move considering the fact that India imports significant quantity of technical textiles. Stronger production base for technical textiles will help reverse the present trend and position India as a global leader," says T Rajkumar, Chairman, CITI. The technical textile market size in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 12% in the next few years from the present around Rs120,000 crore. Experts are of the view that India is expected to play a key role in shaping the future of technical textiles market and it provides a new opportunity to the Indian textile industry to have long-term sustainable future. Despite achieving high growth rate, the per capita consumption of technical textiles in India is 1.7 per kg as against 10-12 kg in developed countries. India is advantageously placed to become a global manufacturing hub for technical textiles as all the raw material required for production is abundantly available. Besides, technical textiles being labour-intensive industry, the presence of the large pool of labour at a comparatively low cost in India as against other technical textile producing countries like China, US, EU, etc, provides India a distinct edge. Infrastructure for technical textiles in India is also developing with increasing investment in R&D, testing and investor facilitation through Centre of Excellence. Besides several textile parks have been established with good infrastructure for attracting investments. Support from central and state governments in form of textile parks, research centers, international collaboration with foreign institutes and laboratories, training facilities, etc will also play a significant role in the sector's progress. So far India is yet to exploit its full potential in the technical textile sector due to various concerns like the absence of regulatory measures for technical textile usage in infrastructure, construction etc; dependence on import for technology and machinery; limited production of high-end products and specialized yarns and intricate duty structures. Experts believe that there is need for policy-backed measures to provide momentum to this segment. Some of these measures include establishing regulatory norms for mandatory usage of technical textile items in specific industries to increase their consumption, developing exclusive HSN codes for identifying high growth products for further development, establishing and implementing Indian standards for developing high quality products of global acceptance, improvement of operational standards, focus on training and education and creating end user awareness for increasing domestic demand for high end technical textile products.