More than 500 standards have been developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for technical textiles and around 40 more are in the pipeline, Rajeev Sharma, BIS deputy director general (standardisation), recently told the 5th National Conclave on Standards for Technical Textiles in New Delhi. Its theme was ‘Building Standards for India@2047’.

"BIS is in the process of developing Standards National Action Plan (SNAP) for the years 2022 to 2027 and I urge the industry to identify important subjects under technical textiles which can be included in Standards National Action Plan (SNAP)," Sharma said.

India is expected to become a key market characterised by growing consumption due to its cost effectiveness, durability and versatility of technical textiles, he added.

India will focus on research and development of technical textiles under the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) to increase penetration of these items in the domestic market, Upendra Prasad Singh, secretary in the textiles ministry, told the conclave.

"Technical textiles is a sunrise sector, and we collectively have to work to increase its penetration in the domestic market," Singh said.

Emphasising the need for standardisation in technical textiles for better quality, Singh said the government is planning to soon hold deliberations on quality control orders (QCO) for certain technical textiles items. The QCOs will be mandatory and will be formulated in consultation with the industry, an official release said.

The conclave was jointly organised by the Federation of Indian chambers of Commerce and Industry, the textiles ministry and BIS.