Interview with Tapas Nandi

There is no doubt that the outlook of Technical Textiles future in India is bright. With growth of economy, improved lifestyles, concern for safety and with focus on infrastructure development the demand of technical textiles is bound to increase in the country. Although the growth and investment so far was below the expectation, however it is going to increase in the medium to long term. The year 2012-2013 will definitely see more focus and investment in this sector, which is going to pay back faster than conventional textiles. Moreover, Technical textiles sector does not face slow down with recession as the applications are mainly in Infrastructure or for safety requirement.

ITEMA has strong presence in world market with its proven technology for manufacturing woven technical fabrics. We offer solution for Geotextiles, Geogrid, Agrotextiles, Fabrics for special filtration, Coated fabrics, Glass fabrics etc. Our Projectile technology up to 6.55 meter width is widely used for Agro and Geotextiles. We have Rapier and Airjet for many other fabrics required to produce technical fabrics for various applications.

I think JVs are must to succeed in Technical Textiles, particularly when you do not have expertise in manufacturing and also requirement for application. It is different ball game, unlike commodity textiles where whatever you produce there are some customers who will buy. It is not easy to get technology transferred from Developed economies, as they do not want to loose their grip in this field. Remember, with modern technology there is no factor such as cheap labour, which helps in manufacturing economically. Global players are looking at demand in India, which is growing. They want to enter into this market and would like to tie up with genuine players who are ready to invest and co-operate with the foreign players.

I believe Government is doing its bit through awareness program, investment in research and nodal testing centres and subsidy through TUFS. I believe some legislation for application of Geotextiles in Road building, Railway projects and in combating soil erosion would help a lot. Lack of expertise in marketing and application of Technical Textiles is also responsible for less investment. However, we can overcome these weaknesses once we start using more and more technical fabrics.

TUFS facility should be extended for Investment in Technical Textiles particularly for new machines and Technology. We cannot compete with other countries like China with old and junk machines. Bringing legislation for compulsory uses of Technical Fabrics in certain areas will give further boost to this industry.