National Technical Textiles Mission

• 18 Jan 2022

For Prelims: Technical Textile, Schemes related to Technical Textile.

For Mains: Significance of Technical Textile in Indian Economy.

Why in News

Recently, the Ministry of Textiles cleared 20 strategic research projects worth Rs 30 crores in the areas of Specialty fibers and Geotextiles under the Programme ‘National Technical Textiles Mission.’

Technical Textiles

• Technical textiles are functional fabrics that have applications across various industries including automobiles, civil engineering and construction, agriculture, healthcare, industrial safety, personal protection etc.
  • Technical Textile products derive their demand from development and industrialization in a country.
• Based on usage, there are 12 technical textile segments: Agrotech, Meditech, Buildtech, Mobiltech, Clothtech, Oekotech, Geotech, Packtech, Hometech, Protech, Indutech and Sportech.
  • For example, ‘mobiltech’ refers to products in vehicles such as seat belts and airbags, airplane seats; geotech, which is incidentally the fastest growing sub-segment, used to hold back soil, etc.

Key Points

• About:
  • It was approved in 2020 by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) with the aim to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles and increase the use of technical textiles in the domestic market.
  • It aims at taking the domestic market size from USD 40 billion to USD 50 billion by 2024.
• Ministry:
  • A Mission Directorate is operational in the Ministry of Textiles.
• Components: It will be implemented for four years starting from 2020-2021 and has four components-
  • First component: It will focus on research, development and innovation with an outlay of Rs. 1,000 crores.
    • The research will be at both fiber level and application-based in geo, agro, medical, sports and mobile textiles and development of biodegradable technical textiles.
    • Research activities will also focus on the development of indigenous machinery and process equipment.
  • Second component: It will be for the promotion and development of the market for technical textiles.
  • Third component: It will focus on export promotion so that technical textile exports from the country reach from Rs 14,000 crores to Rs 20,000 crores by 2021-2022 and ensure 10% average growth every year till the Mission ends.
    • An export promotion council for technical textiles will be set up.
  • Fourth component: It will focus on education, training and skill development.
    • The Mission will promote technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles and its application areas.
• Scenario of Technical Textile:
  • The growth of technical textiles in India has gained momentum in the past five years, currently growing at an 8% per annum rate.
    • It is aimed to hasten this growth to 15-20% range during the next five years.
  • The current world market is USD 250 billion and India’s share in it is USD 19 billion.
  • India is an aspiring player with USD 40 billion in this market (8% Share).
    • The biggest players are the USA, western Europe, China and Japan (20-40% share).
• Initiatives Related to Technical Textile:
  • Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles Sector: It aims to promote the production of high value Man-Made Fiber (MMF) fabrics, garments and technical textiles.
  • Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) Codes for Technical Textile: In 2019, Government of India dedicated 207 HSN codes to technical textiles to help in monitoring the data of import and export, in providing financial support and other incentives to manufacturers.
  • 100% FDI under Automatic Route: The Government of India allows 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under automatic route. International technical textile manufacturers such as Ahlstrom, Johnson & Johnson etc have already initiated operations in India.
  • Technotex India: It is a flagship event organized by the Ministry of Textiles, in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and comprises exhibitions, conferences and seminars with participation of stakeholders from across the global technical textile value chain.
  • Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme: To improve exports and indirectly promote investments in textile machinery.

Source: PIB