Indian Technical Textile Association holds 10th AGM

The 10th Annual General Meeting of ITTA was
held on 16 th December 2020 through video conferencing under the Chairmanship
of Dr Sundararaman KS. The key note address was given by Punit Lalbhai,
Executive Director, Arvind. In the knowledge session, Ian Thomson, Technical
Director, Rockman Advanced Composites, UK and Barry Goodwin, Managing Director,
Amba Projex, UK shared their experiences in the field of composites.

The business session was conducted by Amit
Agarwal, Vice Chairman, ITTA while Dr Anup Rakshit, Executive Director, ITTA,
welcomed the ITTA members, eminent speakers, special invitee and
representatives of press present in the meeting. In his brief welcome address,
he pointed out that this year ITTA has successfully completed glorious 10
years. Two eminent speakers from UK spoke in knowledge session on – Latest
technology on Fibres and Fabrics used in Composites and Coating and Lamination
Technology Employed in Prepreg Composites.

Thanking the Ministry of Textile,
Government of India, Anup Rakshit highlighted that this year two major schemes
on Technical Textiles have been announced by the ministry. One is the National
Technical Textile Mission (NTTM) with an outlay of Rs 1480 crore for 4 years
wherein four components are included and the other is Production Linked
Incentive (PLI) Scheme on technical textiles & man-made fibres segments
with an outlay of 10,683 crore. Both the schemes put together will give boost
to the technical textile Industry in coming years.

Sundararaman K S, Chairman, ITTA,
highlighted that ITTA has been in forefront of responding the COVID-19 crisis
at the national level. He explained in detail that in the process of supporting
the domestic PPE manufacturing sector within the country, ITTA had also on
multiple forums represented the cause of exporters at the level of facemask,
PPE, laminated fabric, etc. and relentlessly working with the Government to
come out with the balance solution of catering to both the Indian needs as well
as taking care of the exports.

 ITTA
further requested the Government to lift the ban on the meltblown fabrics and
we have been indicated that it will happen soon. He said that during the COVID-19
pandemic we have created a completely new segment of 7000 crores because of the
fabric manufacturers in India. On multiple fronts, overall technical textile
industry will be growing rapidly in the coming years. He talked about the ITTA’s
engagement with the Government wherein he informed that today NTTM comprises of
multiple of steering committees to layout and execute the vision of NTTM. ITTA
is the part of these committees at the apex level.

He also mentioned that ITTA has also been
interested in creating the Export Promotion Council (EPC) on Technical Textiles
and we have made the applications/ representation for the same to the
Government. He pointed out that there has been an unprecedented amount of focus
in the government on growing technical textile which started with the 207 list
of HSN codes, 92 mandatory items, NTTM and recently PLI scheme was introduced.
In addition to the PLI scheme, the Govt. of India is looking at creating the international
linkages to both grow the profile of Indian technical textiles as well as to
bring international testing agencies into the country. ITTA mooted an idea
which has been taken up by the government and today the central government is
working with the government of Telangana to create a world class testing labs
in the state. ITTA is also working closely with the BIS for the formulation of
Indian standards on technical textiles.

Speaking on the event, Punit Lalbhai,
Executive Director, Arvind shared his experience in Arvind and working in the
technical textile industry. He spoke about the global market, where India
stands in it and to frame what opportunities technical textile brings to the
country. Globally, the technical textile industry is a large market and it’s
growing at a steady rate for 4-5 per cent. It is focused on a diverse set of
applications; a lot of them are unlike conventional textiles core to the end
users and it’s also has a very high potential of innovation and high-end value.
He highlighted that there are many impediments such as strict quality and
qualification control; buyers not educated about the values in many cases, etc.
to growth of technical textile however we have a lot of opportunities in this
field. He said that there is robust global market waiting for this industry and
both domestic consumption and export will be growing rapidly. He talked about
Arvind’s journey with turnover of 1,000 crore in technical textiles divided
into Human Protection, Industrial products primarily Filtration and Composites.
He mentioned the major points on how to start a business i.e. time arising,
resource availability, quality, lot of focus and push boundaries.

Knowledge Session

Abstract of the two presentations in Knowledge
Session are given below

Ian Thomson, Technical Director, Rockman
Advanced Composites spoke about the “Fibres and Fabrics What, Why, Where and
When through my 40 years in Composites”. He talked about the variety of fibres
and fabrics used in manufacturing, testing, tooling and structure design
of the racing cars i.e. F1 cars. He explained the importance of different
fibres such as Dyneema, Kevlar and Carbon used for making composites. He also
talked about Carbon/Dyneema Hybrid for making Ferrari nose box to achieve a
light, durable and energy absorption body and passed successfully the Collapsible
Steering Column Test, Drop Test for controlled collapse and energy absorption.
Some examples of composites are Formula 1 Chassis – Carbon fibre – strong,
stiff, low density, highly efficient, Sauber C12, Super Aguri – Carbon +
Kevlar- super lightweight racing car panels and North American Racing Series –
Carbon/ Dyneema -light but reasonably durable, strong, flexible and damage tolerant.

“Coating and Lamination Technology Employed
in Prepreg Composites” was presented by Barry Goodwin, Managing Director, Amba
Projex. He explained the definition of composite material and composites
prepregs which can be Pre-impregnated by thermosetting and thermoplastic
method. Prepreg can be made from Carbon, E glass, quartz glass, Aramid, Ceramic
and Kenaf. Even natural fibres like- flax, hemp, etc can also be used for
specific applications. He explained in detail the different Prepreg
manufacturing techniques such as Dry multi-axial technique, Machines – Typical
PUR Laminator, Laminating dry systems, Pre-coated lay-up (woven), Precision
blade coater, Roller coating m/c, Pre-coated prepreg lay-up m/c, UD Tape prepreg
process, UDT Prepreg m/c, Rotating carbon creels for UD tapes, Woven prepreg
process, Fabric prepreg m/c. Global demand for carbon fibre composites – US
$15.75 billion in 2015, to achieve US $23.11 billion by 2021 and to reach US$
38.0 billion by 2024 (6-7 per cent CAGR). He pointed out that in future the
thermoplastic and recyclable prepregs will play a very important role wherein
Slit-preg, tow-preg applications are growing rapidly. He also said that India
has huge potential for growth in this arena.

Nirav Mehta, Director, ITTA proposed a vote
of thanks. Mehta thanked all the directors and ITTA members who were present in
the AGM. He specially thanked three eminent speakers for making excellent
presentations.