The Centre has cleared 23 strategic research projects of around Rs 60 crore in the areas of specialty fibres, sustainable textiles, geotextiles, mobiltech and sports textiles under its flagship programme National Technical Textiles Mission.

The projects were approved under the chairmanship of Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal.

Among these 23 research projects, 12 projects of Speciality Fibres having application areas in agriculture, smart textiles, healthcare, strategic application and protective gears were cleared.

Four projects from sustainable textiles having application area in agriculture and health care sector were cleared. Also, five projects from geotextile, one from mobiltech and one from sportech were cleared.

Technical textiles

• Technical textiles are materials and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic characteristics.

• They are futuristic which are used for various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear, bulletproof jackets, fireproof jackets, high-altitude combat gear and space applications.

• Technical textiles products are divided into 12 broad categories depending upon their application areas. They are: 

i) Agrotech (shade-nets, crop-covers, etc),

ii) Meditech (diapers, PPEs, contact lenses, etc)

iii) Mobiltech (air-bags, nylon tyre cords, etc)

iv) Packtech (wrapping fabrics, jute bags, etc)

v) Sportech (artificial turfs, parachute, etc)

vi) Buildtech (architectural membranes, hoarding & signage, etc)

vii) Clothtech (umbrella cloth, interlinings, etc)

viii) Hometech (blinds, fire-resistant curtains, etc)

ix) Protech (bullet proof jackets, chemical protection clothing, etc)

x) Geotech (geo-grids, geo-composites, etc)

xi) Oekotech (environmental protection, etc)

xii) Indutech (conveyer belts, bolting cloth, etc.). 

• In India, the segment is estimated at $16 billion, which is approximately 6 per cent of the $250 billion global technical textiles market.

• The penetration level of technical textiles is low in India, varying between 5 and 10 per cent against the level of 30-70 per cent in developed countries.

• The mission will focus on the usage of technical textiles in various flagship missions and programmes, including strategic sectors.

National Technical Textiles Mission

With a view to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles, National Technical Textiles Mission has been approved in 2020 for creation at a total outlay of Rs 1,480 crore, with four-year implementation period from FY 2020-21 to 2023-24. 

The Mission has four components:

Component-I (Research, Innovation and Development): This component will promote:

i) Fundamental research at fibre level aiming at path breaking technological products in Carbon Fibre, Aramid Fibre, Nylon Fibre, and Composites.

ii) Application based research in geo-textiles, agrotextiles, medical textiles, mobile textiles and sports textiles and development of bio-degradable technical textiles.

Component–II (Promotion and Market Development): The Mission will aim at average growth rate of 15-20 per cent per annum taking the level of domestic market size to $40-50 billion by 2024, through market development, market promotion, international technical collaborations, investment promotions and ‘Make in India’ initiatives.

Component–III (Export Promotion): The component aims at export promotion of technical textiles enhancing from the current annual value of approximately Rs. 14,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore and ensuring 10 per cent average growth in exports per year upto 2023-24. An Export Promotion Council for Technical Textiles will be set up for effective coordination and promotion activities in the segment.

Component-IV (Education, Training, Skill Development): Education, skill development and adequacy of human resources in the country is not adequate to meet the technologically challenging and fast growing technical textiles segment. The Mission will promote technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles and its application areas covering engineering, medical, agriculture, aqua-culture and dairy segments.

The Mission will focus on usage of technical textiles in various flagship missions, programmes of the country including strategic sectors. The use of technical textiles in agriculture, aquaculture, dairy, poultry, Jal Jeevan Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission and Ayushman Bharat will bring an overall improvement in cost economy, water and soil conservation, better agricultural productivity and higher income to farmers per acre of land holding in addition to the promotion of manufacturing and export activities.

The use of geo-textiles in highways, railways and ports will result in robust infrastructure, reduced maintenance cost and higher life cycle of the infrastructure assets.

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