New Delhi, 5 Nov (KNN) Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry said that time has come to target 5 times increase in export of Technical Textiles in 3 years,  while speaking to representatives of Indian Technical Textile Association( ITTA) in Delhi today.

The Minister said that Centre would  support  PLIs for Textile Sector in States supporting development and offering affordable infrastructure for Textile Manufacturing like cheap land and power .

He stated  that we should align with best standards in Textile manufacturing, and there should be no difference in quality of textile meant for international and domestic consumers.

The Minister suggested public private  participation  in use of Government funds in Research & Development in Technical textiles.

“It may be noted that the growth of Technical Textiles in India has gained momentum in past 5 years, currently growing at 8 % per annum rate. Our aim is to hasten this growth to 15-20% range during next 5 years,” added the Minister.

He said  that current world market is 250 Billion USD (18 Lakh Crore) and  India’s share  in it is USD 19 Billion, and that India is an aspiring player with USD 40 Billion size in this market (8% share).

The biggest players are USA, Western Europe, China and Japan (20 – 40% share). He said that in addition to the growth in statistical terms, we will direct the growth towards high technology and indigenously innovated products.

He further mentioned that with these objectives in mind, government has launched National Technical Textiles Mission in February 2020, with a view to make India a self reliant, vibrant, export oriented economy in the world.

He said, “Our aim is  to transform India into a major player in innovations, technology development, applications in key areas (agriculture, roads & railways, water resources, hygiene and healthcare, personal protection) with emphasis on higher education and skilled workforce.”

Textile Minister Goyal informed  that in January 2019, for the first time in India, 207 HSN Codes issued for Technical Textile and  in less than 2 years time  India has become a net exporter in Technical Textiles.

He said that trade balance earlier used to be negative( -Rs 2788 Crore) in 2018-19 and ( - Rs 1366 Crore in 2019-20), which has turned positive  with 1767 Crore in 2020-21. During the year 2020-21, India’s  major share of exports is in PPEs, N-95 and Surgical Masks, Fabric for PPEs and Masks.

Technical Textiles are textiles, which are engineered to give desired output suitable for  specific applications. The basic raw material are natural fibres like jute, silk and cotton. But, majority of the applications use man-made fibres: polymers(Aramid, Nylon) , carbon, glass, and metals.

Based on their area of Applications, Technical Textiles segment is divided into 12 sub-segments. In India. India has a major presence in Packaging Textiles (Packtech): 38%, Geotechnical Textiles (Geo-tech): 10%, Agricultural Textiles (Agrotech): 12%.

ITTA is an association of small and medium segment of technical textiles manufactures. 90% of their members have annual turnover below INR 100/- crore.  ITTA members are mostly engaged in Non-woven fabrics, Protective garments, Packaging technical textiles, Agro-Textiles, industrial filters, conveyer belts.

Large technical textiles manufactures (more than INR 500/- crore turnover) such as Garware, Welspun, SRF, Century Yarn, Johnson & Johnson, etc., are not associated with ITTA. Ministry of Textiles consults ITTA in most of its policy formulations, programmes and engages them in a regular manner.