At a recent textile conference held in Ahmedabad in Gujarat – India, Mr Saurabh Patel – Minister of Energy and Petrochemicals in the Govt of Gujarat promised to extend full support to entrepreneurs who are willing to invest in the technical textiles sector in the state.

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) organized a well-attended one-day conference – Textile Investment Conclave in Ahmedabad on February 11. The conference discussed and showcased Gujarat as a destination for investments in the textile industry.

Speaking exclusively to fibre2fashion on the sidelines of the conference, he said, “The technical textiles segment has got huge potential and will grow at a faster rate than other segments in the textile industry, hence we have come out with such an aggressive policy.

“I am sure that investors who are early birds will hugely benefit from the benefits provided to the technical textile sector within the Gujarat Textile Policy. So, alongside the policy, I also urge investors to note and take full benefit of good infrastructure as well as ample electricity in the state”, he added.

Earlier, while addressing the conference, Mr Patel said, “The Textile Policy framed by Gujarat has a separate section on technical textiles because Gujarat has a very big potential to produce good quality and value-added technical textile products. Gujarat has also supported two apex Gujarat based textile research institutes namely – ATIRA & MANTRA for the development and innovation of technical textile products.

“These institutes which serve as incubation centres will provide all necessary infrastructure for entrepreneurs to develop their technical textile products. However, although profits in technical textiles are much higher than in conventional textiles, entrepreneurs are afraid to invest in the sector as they fear that competitors will copy their products, which will finally lead to reduced margins”, he added.

“While Gujarat has ample manpower & surplus electricity, the state also plans to set up several industrial training institutes to ensure that industries do not run short of skilled manpower. Towards that end, it looked forward to a public-private partnership, under which entrepreneurs will be provided all help from the Industrial Training Institutes in the state”.