Increasing Export of Technical Textile

• 09 Nov 2021

Why in News

Recently, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry targeted a five times increase in the export of Technical Textiles in three years, from the current USD 2 billion to USD 10 billion.

Key Points

• 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.

• 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 (Rs 18 lakh crore) 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).
• Challenges:
  
  • Lack of Awareness:
    
    • Benefits of technical textiles are still unknown to the larger masses of the country.
  • Development of Skilled Workforce:
    
    • Technical textiles require different and high levels of skill sets from workers which is currently absent in the domestic industry.
  • Lack of Research & Development:
    
    • One of the key issues that the Indian technical textiles industry is facing is the lack of product diversification.
  • Imports of Technical Textiles:
    
    • India imports a significant amount of technical textiles consisting of cheap products from China and hi-tech products from US & Europe. This signifies that the Indian technical textiles industry is lacking scale and the capacities to manufacture high-tech products.
• Opportunities:
  
  • Growth in manufacturing sector:
    
    • Technical textile primarily finds usage in various manufacturing industries such as automobile, construction, aviation, etc.
      
      • Manufacturing sector has been a pillar of growth for the Indian economy with many such industries registering double digit growth over the last decade.
      • Automobile sector is expected to grow at 12% rate over the next decade to reach an estimated production of 75 million vehicles in 2025.
  • Rising Importance of Healthcare & Hygiene:
    
    • With the ever-growing danger of pollution and diseases in the country, people are gradually shifting towards more hygienic and healthy ways of living which involves using products like wipes, face masks, diapers, dental floss, earbuds, sanitary napkins etc.
      
      • All these products consume various technical textile items in different forms.
  • Increasing focus on Sports:
    
    • Sporting equipment, artificial turfs and composites, sportswear and activewear, sports footwear etc., all of these items consume technical textiles.
      
      • This growing fitness and sports phenomena presents a big opportunity for technical textiles.
  • Increased spending on defence and security:
    
    • Government’s increasing focus on defence and security has led to an increasing demand for technical textile equipment such as bullet proof jackets, high altitude clothing, gloves, shoes etc.
• Initiatives Related to Technical Textile:
  
  • National Technical Textile Mission:
    
    • It was launched with a total outlay of USD 194 Mn in February 2020 with a view to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles.
  • Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles Sector:
    
    • It aims to promote the production of high value Man-Made Fibre (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 organised 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:
    
    • Objective is to improve exports and indirectly promote investments in textile machinery.
    • Under ATUFS, technology upgradation and CIS are offered to entities that are engaged in manufacturing textile and technical textile products under the guidance of TAMC (Technical Advisory Monitoring Committee).

Way Forward

• The government and the industry need to build a solid infrastructure to educate people about technical textiles. This can be done by incorporating basic information about technical textiles in schools and colleges, conducting awareness programs such as roadshows and seminars, promotion through digital and social media etc.
• The government can modify their manpower development schemes to align with the requirements of the technical textiles industry.
• Young and aspiring entrepreneurs must take this opportunity and invest in research and development of technical textiles and reap its benefits in the coming years.

Source: TH