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The Textile Magazine
SEPTEMBER 2011
Special policy thrust on
Technical Textiles
textile scene
The Technology Upgradation Funds Scheme (TUFS)
that provides Plan support for textiles through interest
reimbursement and capital subsidy will be extended
during the 12th Plan period as well.
Inaugurating the first International Exhibition & Con-
ference on Technical Textiles in Mumbai, the Minister
for Commerce & Industry and Textiles, Mr. Anand
Sharma, said the textile sector remains core to the In-
dian economy and the Government is committed to its
all-round development.
He said the emerging technical textiles sector has
been identified as one of the thrust areas. Technical
textiles include textiles for automotive applications,
medical textiles, geo-textiles, agro-textiles used for
crop protection and protective clothing for fire fight-
ers, bullet-proof jackets, space suits, etc.
The Minister observed: “Four more Centres of Excel-
lence for non-woven textiles will be set up, in addition
to the existing four, to give a boost to production of
technical textiles. One of them relating to sports tex-
tiles will be based in Mumbai”.
These centres would be equipped with international-
ly accredited testing labs, training facilities for trainers
and technicians from the industry, IT-enabled informa-
tion centre and other requisite support to the techni-
cal textile entrepreneurs. In order to promote techni-
cal textiles in the country and to address the growth
bottlenecks, the Ministry of Textiles has launched the
Technology Mission on Technical Textiles (TMTT).
Mr. Anand Sharma further said two new missions
aimed at standardization of testing laboratories and
boosting marketing strength would be announced
shortly. The Ministry of Textiles expects the technical
textiles sector in the country to grow by 11 per cent
year on year to attain a market size of $14.8 billion by
2012-13 against the current size of $9.9 billion. With
the growth projection remaining optimistic, the indus-
try should invest in research, innovation and market-
ing efforts to put India on the world technical textiles
map, he added.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Prithviraj
Chavan, in his address, called upon the Centre to
set up public sector venture capital fund to encour-
age entrepreneurs to explore new areas of technical
textiles. Maharashtra would soon launch a new textile
policy aimed at boosting valued-added production in
the State. Currently only 25 per cent of cotton grown
in Maharashtra is processed within the State while the
rest goes to other States having vibrant textile industry.
The first-ever international conference-cum-exhibi-
tion named Technotex 2011 has been jointly organ-
ized by the Ministry of Textiles, Department of Chemi-
cals and Petrochemicals and the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). The In-
dian Technical Textiles Association (ITTA) and various
other industry associations are supporting the event.
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka are the partner
States.
Key stakeholders from all the sub-sections of the
technical textile industry are participating in Technotex
2011 to identify new business opportunities and work
out a roadmap for conducive growth of the sector.
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Mr. Anand Sharma
Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Textiles