National Technical Textiles Mission to position India as global leader

Vijay C Roy

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 3

Technical textiles are the fastest growing and the most promising areas that fall under the larger textile industry. According to the industry, the sector has demonstrated encouraging growth trends in India with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% for the past few years wherein it has reached a size of $13 billion. This is the most promising time for the sector as the government is currently engaged in devising policies for boosting it further.

“India imports a significant quantity of technical textiles worth $16 billion every year. To reverse this trend and to position India as a global leader in technical textiles, a National Technical Textiles Mission is proposed,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.

“Outdoor explorers need good quality, comfortable wear which can best be offered with technical fabrics that we currently source from the best of the suppliers. These fabrics include innovative features like being breathable, light-weight, UV-resistant, wicking, organic and recycleable fabric. With this announcement, we are hopeful of being able to source such raw materials domestically at much competitive prices,” said Harkirat Singh, managing director, Aero Club (makers and retailers of Woodland & WOODS brand of clothes and shoes).

“The project, once executed, will further strengthen our Make-in-India mission through domestic sourcing without compromising on the quality of the rough and tough yet comfortable product line offered by Woodland,” he said.

The Finance Minister also announced the abolition of anti-dumping duty on purified terephthalic acid (PTA) — a key raw material for synthetic textiles. PTA is a critical input for textile fibres and yarns, she said, adding “Its easy availability at competitive prices is desirable to unlock the immense potential in textile sector which is a significant employment generator. Therefore, in the larger public interest, anti-dumping duty on PTA is being abolished.”

The removal of the anti-dumping duty on PTA would make import of PTA cheaper for the man-made fabric industry.