Manufacture
of geotextiles started in India in 1985-86. Munish Tyagi takes an
informed look at the road travelled since then.
The landscape for geotextiles
looks optimistic. It is marked by major players like Garware Wall Ropes,
Technofab India, Kusumgar Projects and others including Strata GeoSystems and
Skaps Industries. Some of these players have started providing design
assistance to users in the infrastructure sector.
There is also a strong presence of
international names and MNCs like Fibertex Nonwovens, Maccaferi Environmental
Systems, Tencate, Terram and Hueskar. Under technical support from National
Jute Board and Coir Board, there has been renewed focus on use of natural
fibres like jute and coir, especially for use as geotextile, as underlay for
rural roads.
India is a large producer of
natural fibres like jute and coir and their use in geotextiles, especially for
rural road applications, has led to savings in overall costs and good technical
results. Greater focus needs to be directed to these natural resources in India
for production of environmentally friendly geotextiles that are locally sourced
and locally consumed.
Geo-synthetics are virtually
holding up contemporary civilisations. They are being used increasingly for all
conceivable situations in civil engineering and infrastructure projects. These
cover construction of roads and expressways, airport runways, railway
embankments, sea side platforms, retaining walls, drainage and seepage control
works and water management including river training projects.
Despite the inherent qualities,
use of geo-synthetic materials in India is yet to pick up due to low awareness
of its potential and end uses. India has the second-largest road network in the
world covering approximately 23 million kilometres, so the growth for
geo-synthetics and geotextiles can surely have far-reaching and
multi-disciplinary applications.
Geotextiles are cost-effective.
So, overall demand is expected to grow. Moreover, their engineered and
technical parameters retain enhanced performance amidst all terrain and weather
conditions. The civil engineering vertical is already using about 100 million
square metres of geo-synthetics and geotextiles, and it is projected to grow
steadily at 10-12 per cent per annum.
The
potential
The growth over the past three
decades may not have been phenomenal but it has been steady.
With an average GDP rate of 6.5 to
7 per cent, India is the fastest developing economy. Liberalisation has brought
large infrastructure projects for new highways and roads, railway tracks,
airports and seaports, power plants and water management systems like dams and
canals.
Planned spending on infrastructure
alone in the ongoing 12th National Plan is estimated at US$ 1 trillion, which
will surely promote the use and consumption of geo-technical products. Growth
in demand and applications for geo-synthetic material and geotextiles can only
be exponential once the government makes it mandatory to use these advanced
materials in sectors like road construction, airports and seaport projects,
dams and canals. Two major segments that may turn into even bigger consumers
are the Indian Railways and defence establishments.
This will boost domestic
production and reduce current imports, besides reiterating the government's
Make in India initiative.
Technology for production of
geo-synthetic textiles, including geo-technical sheets, geo-membranes,
geo-cells and geo-tubes, is evolving fast. They are being welcomed especially
in civil engineering including construction of rapidly expanding infrastructure
projects in India. This was clearly endorsed in the 2nd Global Summit on
geo-synthetics held on 19-20 May at New Delhi. It was attended by leading
international and domestic manufacturers and key research institutions like the
Indian Institutes of Technology, Central Coir Research Institute, National Jute
Board, Indian Railways and the Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Road
Transport, apart from a battery of domain experts.
The
future
The road map for increased applications
leading to growth in domestic demand and production lies in addressing needs of
key sectors already experiencing the benefits of the end uses of geo-synthetics
and geotextiles in terms of quality and effective cost.
The Indian Railways, with a network
of 61,000 km, is amongst the largest in the world. About 99 per cent of this
network is in broad gauge. New tracks for dedicated freight corridors and high
speed trains are already on ground for implementation by or before 2021. This
opens huge opportunity for expanded demand and consumption of geo-synthetic and
geotextiles especially for use as soil underlay and for rail embankments.
Other equally important and
bulk-consuming segments are for roads and highways. The textiles are being used
increasingly for reinforced walls, road under-bridges and road over-bridges. In
addition to the perceived increased use of geo-technical materials in military
projects, other fields where they can be used include inland water transport
systems, inter-basin water transfer systems, landfills for solid waste
management, canal and coastline protection and landslide mitigation in hilly
areas with unstable terrain.
The sector requires development of and adherence to quality standards and performance codes under the umbrella of the BIS or some similar designated body or council.