Introduction:

When the mercury was shooting upabove 40 degrees in most parts of India in June, as if I was enjoying the sun,I was on the road meeting with industry people, policy makers and academics.The heat was overcome by pleasant interactions with textile industry people,which enabled me to know firsthand about the technical textiles scenario. Thiscolumn highlights about where are we in technical textiles, what needs to bedone and how to go about to develop the technical textiles base in India.

I could say with confidence that much awareness has beencreated about the potential and opportunities in technical textiles. Right frompolitical leaders to spinning industry leaders now accept that there is a needfor the technical textiles sector to grow. Traditional wings of the textileindustry such as spinning, weaving, knitting and garmenting cannot be aloneconsidered as the components of a growing textile industry. Several factorsencourage and demand the growth of the technical textiles sector.

Tech-Tex (Technical Textiles) Scenario

Technical textile is a growth sector and many states inIndia want to grow this sector. In the recent, 2^nd Global InvestorsMeet convened by Karnataka government, Mr. Varthur Prakash, Minister ofTextiles of Karnataka proclaimed that Karnataka will be a global hub fortechnical textiles. Gujarat has been at the forefront in India to realize thepotential of technical textiles. Specific support schemes have been created togrow the technical textiles sector. Karnataka government is interested increating a special policy for technical textiles. In Gujarat, a nonwovensindustry association has been started. Already this state is home to two majornonwovens projects: 1) Medical textiles by Finland based Ahlstrom and 2) Wipesproject by Ginni Filaments. Generous support from the government of Gujarat isstrengthening the Coating and Laminating Center at MANTRA (Man-Made TextilesResearch Association) - Surat with the addition of needle punch and Spunlacelines. With this center, India will have 9 Centers of Excellence in TechnicalTextiles. To my understanding, these taxpayer supported investments make IndiaNumber 1 in R & D investments in technical textiles. Indias nationalmission on technical textiles has done the right thing in establishing R &D centers and providing market support schemes.

What Needs to be Done?

As pointed out earlier,government has invested in the potential of technical textiles. Major tradebodies such as SIMA have realized the potential of technical textiles. The mostimportant next step is to build confidence among entrepreneurs so thatinvestments can be made. This will lead to the translation of knowledge gainedin

technical textiles over a decade to projects and employment. Recently, I managed to interact with industrialists and bureaucrats to promote the development of technical textiles base in India. The reality on the ground is that investors have money and are willing to invest. Then what prevents the mushrooming of projects?

Key Points to Develop Technical Textiles Base in India

Immediate answers to questions regarding the development and growth of technical textiles sector are:

1.                  Awareness about Converted Technical Textiles Products;

2.                  Educate entrepreneurs that projects can range from 20 lakhs to 5 crores; 5 crores to 50 crores and above. In other words opportunities lie for a whole range of investors;

3.                  Create marketing know-how;

4.                  Government should help with the creation of supply chain linkages in the technical textiles sector and

5.                  Create practical awareness of products in the technical textiles sector that can be sold at retail level.

Two aspects that will support the development of technical textiles sector are:

1.                  Creating marketing know-how and linkages and

2.                  Practical knowledge on the processes and products

Another important support the government can provide is to make high-level trade delegation to the United States and Europe to start with and interact with trade bodies there in technical textiles. This should help in convincing the members of these trade bodies to think about possible investment and collaboration opportunities. This will pave way for Indian entrepreneurs to develop as suppliers/vendors for international companies and kick start joint ventures. This way marketing confidence can be built-up.

Creating confidence by way of marketing linkages is the need of the hour to develop a growing technical textiles sector in India.