Baseline surveys of the textile sector will reflect the real needs of the industry, and the industry should help in the conduct of such surveys, Raghavendra Singh, Secretary, Union Ministry of Textiles, said here on Wednesday.
Inaugurating an investors conclave on technical textiles, organised by the Indian Technical Textiles Association (ITTA), jointly with the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) and Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF), Mr. Singh said the surveys would enable the government to take concrete measures for progress. “I request the industry to help us do baseline survey,” he said. One such survey was done in 2014. Industries in the technical textiles sector should also tap the skilling programme (Samarth programme). Skill resource was needed for technical textiles, he said.
According to Ajay Kumar Singh, Director-General of Life Sciences, Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), in the Tejas light combat aircraft, the pilot’s clothing and gear were developed indigenously and only 10 % of it was imported. A study shows that per capita non-woven consumption in India is 0.4 kg and it is three kg in the U.S. By 2049, it is expected to be 25 kg in the U.S. and 20 kg in India. So, there is opportunity and “We can have phenomenal growth.” The need is for research and development. There is scope for development of fire-retardant clothing. The raw material for it has to be imported for the clothing to be developed locally now. Another area of potential is insecticide textiles and mats. This will benefit several applications,” he said. He urged the stakeholders to form a “mahagathbandhan” for the progress of the sector.
P. Nataraj, SIMA chairman, said yarn and fabric should be included under reimbursement of all embedded taxes. The Government should also take efforts to release the arrears under the Technology Upgradation Fund scheme.
S. Sundararaman, chairman of ITTA, explained the need for new entrepreneurs to get into technical textiles.
Prabhu Damodharan, convenor of ITF, spoke on the need to brand Tamil Nadu textiles.