The inaugural session of Technotex 2014, the 3rd international conference on technical textiles highlighted the vision of the industry towards taking this sector to new growth trajectory.

 

Organised jointly by the Ministry of Textiles and FICCI, key officials of the Ministry of Textiles, as well as the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka were present at the conference, which was attended by stakeholders from both India and overseas. 

 

Shri. Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman – Textiles and Technical Textiles Committee, FICCI, opened the session outlining the huge potential of the technical textiles sector, which is currently US$ 13 billion in size and expected to grow at 20 per cent per annum in the next two years. With imports touching US$5 billion, he stressed on the urgency for India to develop indigenous products to boost domestic growth.

 

Highlighting the theme for this year’s conference, which is ‘Accelerating technical textile usage and strengthening institutional buying’, Shri. Jaipuria said that technical textiles had a major role to play in the growth of the overall textiles sector in India. He also mentioned that Technotex had grown in stature with countries participating from all across the globe. This year the event had two major delegations from Taiwan and more than 40 international companies. The event, which also had a buyer-seller meet, a unique platform for foreign companies to network and actively engage with Indian companies in this rapidly growing market. 

 

Shri. Sujit Gulati, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, threw light on the initiatives of the government focused around promotion of technical textiles in India. He said that this year Technotex aimed to build and enhance the ‘investment’ environment for the technical textiles sector in the country. 

 

He highlighted a few schemes, starting with the four centres of excellence that were raised to eight in the Technology Mission programme of 2010, along with encouraging entrepreneurs and start-ups to engage in this sector. 

 

The government aimed at strengthening research in this field, organising buyer seller meets,  providing a national policy framework and also promoting the agro technical textiles in the north eastern states where two demonstration centres are already under way, to showcase the benefits and usage of technical textiles, especially natural fibres. 

 

To generate skilled manpower, the subject has also been made part of the curriculum in schools and colleges through the intervention of the Indian Technical Textiles Association (ITTA). Technotex aimed to provide a road map for the industry to explore the repository of technical textiles in India.

 

Dr D A Venkatesh, Commissioner for Textiles Development and Director of Handlooms & Textiles, Government of Karnataka, spoke on Karnataka as an ideal investment destination for technical textiles as it provided a congenial industrial climate, had availability of infrastructure for investment especially the land bank, an investor- friendly textile policy, skilled labour and a special package for investors of technical textiles. 

 

He says, “Through Technotex, the government has given us a platform to discuss and negotiate an investment opportunity in the field of technical textiles, which is a prospering industry.”

 

Shri. Kamal Dayani, Industries Commissioner, Government of Gujarat, gave an overview of the investment avenues in Gujarat for technical textiles. He said that while the potential of this industry and its application is huge, the consumption in comparison is miniscule, almost less than 2-3 per cent of the global pie. He said, “There is a need to relook at building some innovative products in this sector, which will drive up the demand and this required a collaborative effort from all the stakeholders.”

 

He further mentioned that the new textile policy of Gujarat had listed a number of incentives for investors as it aimed to encourage and enhance the framework for investment in this sector. 

 

Shri.  Sunil Porwal, Principal Secretary – Textiles, Government of Maharashtra, spoke of technical textiles as a good business opportunity for investors. Especially for a state like Maharashtra, he said, that an investor can leverage the opportunity as the state has social, physical, finance infrastructure in place as well as the trade and the market along with a positive policy and transparent environment. He added, “The usage of technical textiles is widespread and its impact on other sectors is immense, investors must use this opportunity to grow.”

 

Calling it the next sunrise sector for India, Smt.  Zohra Chatterji, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India gave a detailed insight into the vision of the government for the technical textiles sector. The government was looking at a five-fold increase in the fund outlay for the sector during the 12th five year plan.