• The textiles ministry will provide a grant-in-aid of up to Rs 50 lakh for startups and individuals to promote innovation in the technical textiles segment.

• The Startup Guidelines for Technical Textiles - Grant for Research and Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT) providing grant-in-aid of up to Rs 50 lakh for up to a period of 18 months has been approved.

• With a strong emphasis on developing the startup ecosystem in technical textiles, the guidelines focus on supporting individuals and companies to translate prototypes to technologies & products, including commercialisation.

• Under the GREAT scheme, the textiles ministry envisages the research, which has already been conducted and some prototypes have been developed, to be made commercial.

• The scheme will be commensurate with the National Technical Textiles Mission.

• The startup guidelines (GREAT) are aimed at providing the much-needed impetus for the development of the technical textiles startup ecosystem in India, especially in niche sub-segments such as biodegradable and sustainable textiles, high-performance and speciality fibres, and smart textiles, among others.

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 (conveyor 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.

• Technical textiles industry is an emerging and important part of the textile industry. It is expected to reach a size of $28 billion in FY 24-25, increasing at a CAGR of 8.25 per cent over FY19-20. It contributes 0.7 per cent to India’s GDP and accounts for 13 per cent of India’s total textile and apparel 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.

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 biodegradable 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 up to 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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