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THE TEXTILE MAGAZINE
AUGUST 2011
T
he Indian Government has done its part by
creating the basic awareness on the techni-
cal textiles sector. In addition, it has also
contributed from the "scal point of view by launch-
ing a national Technological Mission on Technical
Textiles. In addition, the technical textiles sector
has also been included in the revamped Technology
Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS). !is will beg
the question: why then the industry has not grown?
!e answer to this question lies in two parts – lack
of awareness on how to make "nished or converted
technical textile products, and marketing know-how
to sell and trade technical textile products.
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By Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
There needs to be a platform where interested parties
and entrepreneurs can come to know what products are
marketable and how to make and market them. The an-
swer to this puzzle lies in the 1-0-1 basic marketing class
on technical textiles. In a different connotation, the indus-
try has to make and sell products where there are multiple
consumer needs and applications. Simply put, the techni-
cal textiles sector in India should know where and how
such textiles are used on a daily basis.
It is very well accepted in the industry that the technical
textiles sector can be categorized into 12 segments which
were proposed a couple of decades ago by the Techtextil-
Messe Frankfurt. How relevant this will be in a very na-
scent growth market like India is questionable in my point
of view. When Techtextil-Messe Frankfurt made this cat-
egorization, the European and American technical textiles
markets were fairly matured.
In the Indian context, to give room for all segments to
participate, it would be logical to broadly categorize tech-
nical textiles into consumer products, institutional prod-
ucts and government/national procurement products.
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of industries to individually or collectively participate in
the growth equation of the technical textiles sector. For
example, if the thrust is given to one product such as geo-
textiles where the market is niche and limited, it will jeop-
ardize the growth opportunities for a number of small-
scale players with limited investment capabilities.
For entrepreneurs and industrialists with limited invest-
ment capabilities, it would be logical and less risky to en-
ter into the converting sector of the technical textiles in-
dustry. The converting sector is the generic name for the
segment of the technical textiles industry that develops
products which are picked up and used by consumers. In
other words, these are the products which will occupy the
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etc. I have been articulating the need for creation of the
converting sector in India in the recent past. As briefed
before, big ticket item products such as geotextiles, sport-
teChnICAL textILeS
Mr. SESHADRI RAMKUMAR