The technical textiles industry has the caliber to grow at a CAGR of 20 per cent, according to M Senthilkumar, chairman of Southern India Mills’ Association. With 42 per cent share, packaging textiles has the highest share among the 12 major technical textile items. It is followed by industrial textiles and home textiles, each with a share of 10 per cent.

Technical textiles is one of the fastest developing sectors of the textile industry and has also attained annual compounded growth rate of 11 per cent.

It is the responsibility of the textile industry to support the segments of technical textiles and nonwovens by doing investments, said Senthilkumar at a seminar-cum-exhibition on ‘Investment opportunities in technical textiles and nonwovens’. The programme was organised by The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Office of the Textile Commissioner.

Despite good CAGR of technical textiles sector, a major portion of its products are being imported, said TL Balakumar, deputy director in Office of the Textile Commissioner. Out of 2,220 manufacturing units of technical textiles in India, around 932 units are functional. These working units are yet to explore the segments of automotive and geotextiles. It is vital to create awareness about technical textiles in the rural area for its growth. Promotion will help in utilising the resources in an effective manner, he said.

In an attempt to promote the usage of geotextiles in the northeastern region, the government had allocated Rs 427 crore for a term of five years, beginning from 2014-15 and Rs 5 crore for the rest of India.