The Secretary of Indian Ministry of Textiles chaired the 8th Empowered Programme Committee (EPC) meeting at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi, under the National Technical Textiles Mission.

The committee approved a grant of approximately ₹50 lakh (~$60,000) each to four start-ups under the ‘Grant for Research & Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT)’ scheme. These start-ups are working in key strategic areas, including Composites, Sustainable Textiles, and Smart Textiles.

The committee also sanctioned a grant of approximately ₹20 crore (~$2.4 million) to five educational institutes to introduce specialised courses in technical textiles. These courses will cover a range of subjects, such as Geotextiles, Geosynthetics, Composites, and Civil Structures, and will be part of new B.Tech programmes in the field of technical textiles, the Ministry of Textiles said in a press release.