The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the setting up of a National Technical Textiles Mission at an total outlay of ₹1,480 Crore.
The aim is to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles and increase the use of technical textiles in the domestic market.
The Mission will be implemented for four years from 2020-2021 and will have four components, a release said.
The first component will focus on research and development and innovation and will have an outlay of ₹1,000 crore. The research will be at both, fibre level and application-based in geo, agro, medical, sports and mobile textiles and development of bio-degradable technical textiles. Research activities will also focus on development of indigenous machinery and process equipment. The second component will be for promotion and development of market for technical textiles.
The release said the Indian technical textiles segment is estimated at $16 billion which is approximately 6% of the $250 billion global technical textiles market. The penetration level of technical textiles in India varies between 5% and 10% against the level of 30% to 70% in developed countries. The Mission will aim at taking domestic market size to $40 billion to $50 billion by 2024.
The third component will focus on export promotion so that technical textile exports from the country reach from the ₹14,000 crore now to ₹20,000 crore by 2021-2022 and ensure 10% average growth every year till the Mission ends. An export promotion council for technical textiles will be set up. The last component will be on education, training and skill development. The Mission will promote technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles and its application areas.
A Mission Directorate will be operational in the Ministry of Textiles, the release added.
