New Delhi: The Central government is focussing on research and development (R&D) of technical textiles under the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) to increase penetration of these items in Indian market, said Upendra Prasad Singh, Secretary, Union Ministry of Textiles, while addressing 5th national conclave on ‘Standards for Technical Textiles’ here recently. The event was organized by FICCI, jointly with the Ministry of Textiles and BIS. “Technical textiles are a sunrise sector, and we collectively have to work to increase its penetration in the domestic market,” he said.

Singh added that to further boost the technical textiles, the government has taken a series of initiatives in the last two years including introduction of PLI scheme (for man-made and technical textiles) as well as setting up of the National Technical Textile Mission (NTTM). He stated that the main job of NTTM is in R&D and with the increase in use of technical textiles, there is a need to enhance the R&D. “Whatever we need to do to promote technical textiles including formulation of standards, we all need to work together including government, BIS and the industry,” highlighted Singh.

Emphasizing the need for standardization in technical textiles for better quality, Singh said: “We can’t ensure quality unless we have standards. There has to be uniformity in standards as well. We need to have revision of standards also from time to time.” Further, he said that the government is planning to hold deliberation on Quality Control order (QCO) for certain technical textiles items shortly. “The quality control orders will be mandatory and will take these steps in consultation with the industry so that the industry, especially indigenous industry is not affected,” he added.

Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhry, Director General, Border Roads Organization, said that technical textiles play an important role in building roads in the border region. He also urged the industry to come forward and support in building new infrastructure. “We construct various roads, tunnels, and airports at extreme weather conditions and at times with lack of adequate technical support. We need industry to support us by finding solutions to these problems at borders. We have been collaborating with various technical institutions, industry as well as academia. Already, BRO has been using geo-textiles in a large number of areas,” he added.

Rajeev Sharma, Deputy Director General (Standardization), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) said that India is expected to become a key market characterized by growing consumption due to its cost effectiveness, durability and versatility of technical textiles. Over 500 standards have been developed by BIS for technical textiles so far and around 40 more are in the pipeline. He further said that standardization plays a very important role in development of trade and increase of market access and harmonization of standards becomes important when trade is between different countries.

Rajinder Gupta, Chair, FICCI Textiles Committee and Chairman, Trident Ltd, while addressing virtually said that technology is changing rapidly and technical textiles with their wide applications can play a crucial role in the country’s transformation in next twenty-five years. He added that two important areas where standards would be required include geo-textiles, sports tech, meditech, protech, etc., where faster development of standards is the key for overall well-being of the society. “Today is the time to build a new India which is safe, clean and self-dependent,” he added.

Rajnikant Sabnavis, Co-Chair, FICCI Textiles Committee and Chief Marketing Officer, Grasim Industries Ltd, said that standardization is one way by which any industry develops competitiveness. Today, we are largely dependent on imports for technology in technical textiles and we want to see this journey towards improving technologically and gaining strength, he emphasized. /BI/