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Composites growing at double the GDP in India

16 Jan '13

5 min read

Composites are one of those segments which is growing at double the GDP in India, with the sector cumulatively growing at around 18-20 percent in the last five years, said a distinguished speaker at the inaugural address of the first-ever 'International Conference on Composites'.

A 'International Conference on Composites' was jointly organized by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, and Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) at Ahmedabad recently.

At the inaugural address on the dais were, Mr Sujit Gulati, Joint Secretary – Ministry of Textiles, Mr Anil Joshi, Textiles Commissioner - - Ministry of Textiles, Mr Sanjay Lalbhai, CMD Arvind Ltd, Mr S Gupta, Jute Commissioner - Ministry of Textiles, Mr SB Dangayach, Managing Director – Sintex Industries Ltd , Dr Frank Henning – Deputy Director – Fraunhofer (Germany) and Mr AK Sharma, Director - ATIRA.

Mr Dangayach said that composites were one of those segments which was growing at double the GDP in India, with cumulative growth posting a growth of 18-20 percent in the last five years.

“Although composites are currently manufactured from glass, there is a huge opportunity in the future to produce from carbon and natural fibre. The biggest potential for composite textiles lies in manufacturing wind turbine blades. Globally, airplanes and automobiles are also other most-promising segments”, he said.

Mr Gupta said, “Although composites can be traced back to a thousand years, the use of natural fibres in the production of composites has not really taken off. However finding substitutes for metals and petrochemicals to reduce carbon foot print and rising prices is forcing researchers to also look at natural fibres”.

“Trade in natural fibres composites touched around US $2.1 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach $4 billion by 2016. These types of conferences which look at substitutes like natural fibres can provide the impetus for jute and other fibres. Some of the areas where natural fibre composites can be used are automobile and building construction.

“Out of five key parameters, natural fibres composites are found to better on four, viz – price, weight, recyclable and energy consumption. Natural fibres fall behind glass fibres only on the parameter of tensile strength. Fraunhofer Institute has initiated research on usage of jute to produce composites, which we welcome wholeheartedly”, he concluded by saying.

Speaking next – Mr AB Joshi said, “The Centre of Excellence” for Composites started in ATIRA, is a step in the right direction and this conference too. The market for composites in India is expected to be around Rs 14 billion in 2012-13 up from Rs 6.5 billion in 2007-08. The Ministry of Textiles has sanctioned Rs 25 crores to develop the 'Centre of Excellence' for Composites in ATIRA and make it a world class facility”.

He also provided information on the various initiatives of the government of India to promote technical textiles in the form a 'Techno Mission' with a budget of Rs 2 billion. The Textiles Ministry will aim at promoting infrastructure facilities like strengthening of four Centres' of Excellence and create four more such Centre's.

It will also support manufacture, trade and export market development of technical textiles and providing support to business starts-ups. The government has also appointed a panel of experts who will guide entrepreneurs free of cost. It will also provide support for training and holding workshops.

Mr Sanjay Lalbhai who is also the Chairman of the governing council at ATIRA, was full of praise for the textile research institute.

He said, “The first responsibility was to become financially strong, which has now been achieved due to the efforts of Mr Sharma. Alongside ATIRA has set up several facilities like for nanotextiles, pilot facility for technical textiles, and comprehensive testing facility for geotextiles.

He added, “ATIRA has tied up with several international institutions to strengthen its research activities. The feather in ATIRA's cap is the 'Centre of Excellence for Composites' for which it has tied up with the renowned German institute – Fraunhofer. The Centre will be only the third of its kind in the world”.