Darshana Jardosh, Union Minister of State for Textiles, while addressing the Technical Textiles Conference in Imphal (Manipur), has said that robust inter-ministerial coordination and cooperation amongst Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers and others, will play a crucial role in paving a strong path for the development of technical textiles market in India.
Focused on technical sessions related to application and usability of geotextiles and agrotextiles, the conference was organised by Ministry of Textiles in collaboration with Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
N. Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur, and over 150 people comprising officials and representatives from Government of Manipur, Indian Army, line ministries and departments of the Central Government, eminent industrialists from India and research associations participated in the conference.
She encouraged the officials of the Government of Manipur to promote the usage of geotextiles and agrotextiles’ products through their respective departments.
N. Biren Singh highlighted that the Manipur holds unique and tremendous possibilities in usage of technical textiles, particularly geotextiles, across its roads and railways, especially in the Imphal to Mao region of the state.
The geotextile technology is already in use in the railway tracks at Imphal – Jiribam Line in Manipur.
The Minister added that northeastern states, especially Manipur, are prone to heavy rainfall throughout the year leading to flooding, landslides and soil erosion thereby creating opportunities for the usage of geotextiles.
There was a presentation on the components of the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) scheme by Rajeev Saxena, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles. He emphasised on the four components of the scheme including research, development and innovation; skilling, training and education; promotion and market development; and export promotion.
Various initiatives have been undertaken under the scheme including sanctioning 31 research projects worth Rs.108 crore in the areas of specialty fibres and geotextiles; developing 31 new HSN codes dedicated to technical textile products and developing 500+ standards in collaboration with BIS, amongst others.
