Technicaltextile.net
How do you see the Indian market as a major consumer/producer of nonwoven products? Where does the opportunity for a country like India lie?
Mr G V Aras
We see major growth coming in from durable nonwovens, particularly for filtration, geo-synthetics and automotive. With likely Government initiative towards making use of nonwovens mandatory in infrastructure development, huge demand will be generated for geo-synthetics (for reinforcement, filtration, drainage purposes) in the coming years. Hygiene nonwovens (wipes, diapers, sanitary pads etc.) will certainly grow in the next few years due to likely increase in per capita income and increasing awareness.
Technicaltextile.net
What according to you are the missing links for India in this field? Any recommendations to policy makers for enhancing investment in this sector?
Mr G V Aras
Although there has been lot of talks on technical textiles including nonwovens, not much investment has happened so far in spite of good opportunities. Some of the reasons for this are higher initial investment in the capital machinery, bigger volume of production from the plant making it challenging to secure markets. From Government side enough initiatives have been taken in the right direction which includes special concessions under TUF, budgetary allocation for use of geo-textiles in road construction in North-East area, stricter norms for air polluting industries forcing them to use proper filtration media.
Our recommendation is that Government should make use of technical textiles including non-wovens mandatory in the infrastructure development, which will not only increase the demand for geo-textile products but also will increase the life and quality of the roads etc.
Technicaltextile.net
Rising costs led to a shift in textile and apparel production from Europe to countries like India in the past. Do you foresee the same type of scenario reoccurring in nonwovens in the near future and why?
Mr G V Aras
I do not think that such a scenario is possible simply because India does not hold any advantage in this area as the plants are of high technology with higher production volumes and much lower labour requirement. Since the material produced is bulky, it makes it expensive for transportation out of the country and there is not enough demand in India to consume the production.
Technicaltextile.net
What is the outlook for nonwoven machinery in India for the next 2-3 years?
Mr G V Aras
The pace of investment in new projects in the nonwovens field is quite slow so far. However, with more investment coming in infrastructure development as well as healthcare sector, certainly in the next few years more demand will be generated for plant and machinery.
