In an effort to position India as a leader in technical textiles globally, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the setting up of National Technical Textiles Mission.
The period of implementation for the mission will start from the coming fiscal year, i.e., 2020-2021 to 2023-2024.
The announcement for the same came in the Union Budget, which allocated a total of Rs. 1,480 crore for the mission which will be made up of 4 components, research, innovation and development, promotion and market development along with training and skill development.
The focus will be on usage of technical textiles in key flagship mission and programmes of the country, including the strategic sectors of agriculture, defence, water and infrastructure.
India has nearly 6 per cent share of US $ 250 billion global technical textiles market. However, the annual average growth of the segment in India is 12 per cent as compared with world average growth of 4 per cent.
The mission is aimed at promoting skill development and creating an adequate manpower to meet the needs of sophisticated technical textile manufacturing units across India. This will be aided by enhancing education at higher levels related to engineering and technology.
Skill development will be promoted and an adequate pool of highly skilled manpower resources will be created for meeting the need of relatively sophisticated technical textile manufacturing units, the statement said.
Technical textiles are used for various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear, health on one hand to fire proof jackets, bullet proof jackets, high altitude combat gear and space applications on the other.
In India, the segment is valued at US $ 16 billion, which is around 6 per cent of the US $ 250 billion global technical textiles market. The penetration level of technical textiles is low in the country, varying between 5 and 10 per cent against the level of 30-70 per cent in developed countries.
