Interview with Ashok Desai

Bombay Textile Research Association has been working in various fields of technical textiles for the last two decades and more. BTRA started working on nonwovens and products like canal liners where semi-field trials were taken in the early nineties. Industrial filters and geotextiles were attempted in the late eighties and early nineties. But it was too early for the Indian market, and it did not get the push in spite of organising three international seminars on nonwoven technical textile in 1987, 1991 and 1992. Now, with the Government of India leading efforts to promote technical textiles, BTRA is pleased to be a part of the movement and is working in various areas including geosynthetics for which BTRA is designated as the Centre of Excellence (COE). BTRA has set up a state-of-art laboratory for all kinds of geosynthetics to be tested, as a third party, and have a client base from all over India and some from overseas. The lab is accredited to Indian and international accreditation agencies.

BTRA carries out projects supported primarily by private and public funding agencies. The projects carried out in-house are funded by BTRA funds which, in most cases, are for technical textiles.

Nonwovens have various domestic and industrial applications. In India, nonwoven industry has not made inroads to the extent it should, in the geotextile sector. But we can see it growing soon, not only in the geosynthetic sector, but also in agro and medical textiles. Medical tourism is growing and the need for 'one-time use' medical textile is bound to grow. In view of increasing awareness of hospital-acquired infections, with incineration facilities and growing awareness, medical textile should grow. In many industrial products like filters and automotives, it is already on the upswing.

BTRA's work is not only in geosynthetics, but in a host of other technical textile areas such as conductive fabrics in which BTRA has developed fabric sensors for medical, security and high altitude clothing requirements. BTRA works on development of multifunctional textiles and antibacterial, UV protective and flame retardant fabrics by plasma-assisted, eco-friendly processes and applications of nano-technology. It has bagged the prestigious DST-Lockheed Martin award from a jury comprising national and international experts. BTRA's work, in general, is focused on new and emerging areas of technology to assist and diversify the conventional textiles industry to technical textile sector.

The technical textile industry has made remarkable progress in the last two years, thanks to the efforts of both the Government of India and industry leaders. Without referring to growth in numbers or statistics, it would suffice to say that the technical textile industry can only move in one direction, and that is upwards. This is partly because the base is still low. Growth may be uneven across different segments of technical textile, but overall growth is well expected. Certain sectors like protective textiles, packing and agrotextiles should grow because of large potential. Sectors like medical textiles and geotextiles have potential, but a lot more awareness from users and policy or decision makers is required. On the whole, India, a toddler in technical textiles in the world, will soon be an adolescent if not an adult.

Nonwoven manufacturers should look at high-end, value-added products rather than low-margin, volume-based markets. Synthetic leather-coated nonwoven, construction textiles, nano-technology based products, electro-spun or force spun products should be the knowledge-based products of the future.

Government agencies are the biggest buyers of geotextile products, and naturally, the pace of infra-projects on roads and bridges and other routine road-relaying work determine the demand in this sector. Erosion control and flood control and flood control applications are picking up. Indian Railways, one of the world's largest railway networks, could be a big boost for the geotextile industry in India, if it can be convinced. The outlook for the industry is bright on the whole.

BTRA is recognised as a COE in geosynthetics and naturally, it is the primary area in which BTRA promotes technical textile. But BTRA's scientists work in a host of other technical textile areas, where advanced technologies like plasma technology, nano-technology etc are used to develop many functional textiles. Another area is conductive fabrics, where BTRA is developing fabric electrodes and sensors.

Many new product developments are taking place in the geotextile sector, but I believe one important development could be smart geotextiles. These textiles are on roads, and roads connect people. If a smart geotextile can transmit signals by incorporating some sensors and aid in communications, connectivity network can make tremendous transformation in connecting people and will be a value-added geotextile.

Sustainability is an important issue and it is attracting increasing global attention. As far as the nonwoven industry is concerned, EDANA is regularly making its nonwoven members aware of the issue, and work is going on in sustainable nonwovens. What is important is using a sustainable process for converting nonwovens into usable products, and it is here that chemicals used or the machine used must respond. One example that comes to mind is the plasma processing of nonwovens for functional finishing, which is a clean and dry process and is eco-friendly.