Jalandhar Institute of Technology hosts seminar on nowovens & technical textiles

October 18, 2012 - India

The Department of Textile Technology at National Institute of Technology Jalandhar organized a two-day national seminar on October 5-6, 2012 for disseminating and sharing knowledge on Nonwovens and Technical Textiles.

The seminar received enthusiastic support from the office of Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, GOI, Vardhman group, ATE Enterprises, MK Technology, and Knit Foulds Pvt. Ltd.

More than 150 participants from industry, academic institutions, research organizations, consultants, ministry of textiles and budding entrepreneurs participated in the seminar, which provided a major impetus to the development and growth of nonwovens and technical textiles industry in India and served as a major platform for interaction among the stake holders.

The seminar was inaugurated by Mr D L Sharma, Managing Director, Vardhman Yarns and Threads Ludhiana. Dr. A Mukhopadhyay and Dr. Vinay Midha, Coordinators of the seminar welcomed the chief guest, speakers and participants, and introduced the theme of the seminar.

A book encompassing 44 papers was released. Apart from oral papers, there was a separate session for poster presentation of students and faculties of various institutions. Besides elucidating the latest technical developments and related commercial aspects, papers also showcase futuristic trends of research in the area of spunlace nonwovens, bulletproof vests, conductive textiles, geotextiles and geocomposites.

In his inaugural speech Mr D L Sharma emphasized the importance of nonwoven and technical textile in India and shared his views about its future prospects. Prof. S K Das, Director NIT Jalandhar spoke on the usefulness and applications of geotextiles in mining industry.

Mr V K Kohli, Deputy Director, Regional office of the Textile Commissioner, Amritsar presented a paper on ‘Technology Mission on Technical Textiles’ and emphasized on various initiatives taken by Government of India for the development of this important sector of textile industry.

Prof. V K Kothari, IIT Delhi presented a plenary lecture on ‘Innovative Nonwovens’ to highlight recent developments in nonwovens, their utility and future scope. Prof. R Jamdagni, Director, The Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences, Bhiwani discussed the applications of functional fibres in the area of technical textiles.

Mr Munish Tyagi, consultant, Nuovatex Projects Co. New Delhi, elucidated about the Cost and Viability of a SME Nonwoven Project using needlepunch technology. He exemplified a project business model of a new filter media unit producing 4 Ton/day, under `Business start up` scheme of the Ministry of Textiles.

Mr Anu Handa, Vardhman Yarns and Threads, Mr. Ayan Chakraborty, GM Ginni Filaments (Spunlace division) Ankleshwar, Mr Tiru Kulkarni, Vice President-Geosynthetics Division, Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd., Pune, Dr Debarati Bhattacharjee, Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (DRDO) Chandigarh, Mr Sanjay Goel, Vibrant Technik, Jaipur were among the other speakers.

Among the nonwoven machinery suppliers, A.T.E. Enterprises, Private Limited, Chandigarh was represented by Mr Ashish Sharma, who presented a wide range of nonwoven machinery for technical textile applications.

Prof. A Mukhopadhyay, Dr Vinay Midha and Ms Monica Sikka of the Department of Textile Technology, NIT Jalandhar presented the research work going on in the department in the fields of Aerosol Filtrations, Sportswear, Surgical Gowns, Geotextiles and Compression Bandages. The participants and poster presenters were presented with certificates by Prof. R K Garg of NIT Jalandhar.

Dr. Vinay Midha presented the vote of thanks and thanked the presenters and sponsors for supporting the seminar. Attendees left the seminar with better understanding of nonwovens and technical textile products, market opportunities and Government schemes for the promotion of technical textiles.

In the present scenario, nonwovens are no doubt amongst the most promising textile products replacing traditional textiles, and are most widely used in diverse applications of technical textiles due to their unique characteristics, performance and cost advantage.


There are many niche areas where technical textiles are used such as geotextiles, protective textiles, medical textiles, transportation textiles etc. As the country is transforming into a developed nation, huge emphasis is being laid down in adopting latest technologies and procedures in various fields.

The new promise of technical and performance textiles is an emerging generation of products combining the latest developments in advanced flexible materials. Considering that India has a large pool of skilled and scientific/technical manpower, it can play a major role in shaping the future of this industry.

The growth of technical textiles will also lead to steep rise in the demand for highly skilled manpower for both production and R&D. In the line of the above, it is important to disseminate knowledge, exchange views and envisage new opportunities in technical textiles.