The seminar was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Pramod Khosla, Chairman & Managing Director, Khosla Profil.
The Textile Association (India), Mumbai Unit organised One Day Seminar on “Future Trends in Technical Textiles”on 22nd August 2026 at Vapi (Gujarat). The seminar was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Pramod Khosla, Chairman & Managing Director, Khosla Profil.
Inaugural session
RR Patil, Vice President, TAI, Mumbai Unit delivered welcome address. In his speech, he welcomed the Chief Guest, Pramod Khosla, Chairman & Managing Director, Khosla Profil, Key Note Speaker Dr Ing Mohit Raina Managing Director, Raina Industries. He also welcomed, the Lifetime Achievement Awardee, Vipin Kalra, Chairman, Madura Industrial Textiles and the Industrial Excellence Awardee – Chakresh Jain, Group President -Technical, Supreme Nonwovens Industries, Speakers, Press, Media and delegates.
RK Vij, President,The Textile Association (India) while addressing the seminar highlighted the growing importance of technical textiles in sectors such as healthcare, infrastructure, automotive, defence, agriculture and aerospace. He said the future of the sector will be driven by high-performance materials, smart textiles and sustainability. He emphasised the need for greater collaboration among industry, academia, research institutions and government to promote innovation, testing, skill development and commercialisation. Shri Vij said, India, with its strong textile base and large domestic market, has a significant opportunity to emerge as a global hub for technical textiles, innovation and advanced applications. He called upon the industry to convert ideas into partnerships, new products and commercial opportunities, and expressed hope that the seminar would lead to greater collaboration and action.
Dr Gurudas Aras, Seminar Advisor and Trustee, TAI, Mumbai Unit while giving his address highlighted the growing importance of technical textiles in Indian textile industry. Dr. Aras said technical textiles are transforming textiles from conventional products into high-performance engineering solutions for infrastructure, healthcare, defence, agriculture, automobiles, filtration, sports and other advanced applications. He emphasised that India has significant advantages, including a strong textile manufacturing base, skilled capabilities across the value chain and a large domestic market. He called for greater investment in R&D, indigenous technology, industry-academia collaboration, testing, certification and start-up innovation. Dr. Aras stressed that India’s ambition should go beyond import substitution and focus on becoming a global innovation and manufacturing hub for technical textiles. He emphasised that the transition from “textiles as products” to “textiles as solutions” will define the next chapter of the Indian textile industry and urged industry stakeholders to actively contribute to creating this future.
Pramod Khosla, Chairman & Managing Director, Khosla Profil, in his inaugural address, highlighted the journey of innovation over the past four decades and brought out the salient features of Indian industry penetrating in to one of the key nations having significant growth in high-performance textiles especially filtration fabrics and allied technical textile sector.
Dr Ing Mohit Raina, Managing Director, Raina Industries in his Keynote address said that the innovation in technical textiles focuses on the performance and interdisciplinary approach to harness the high performance of textiles for specialised application in building material, construction, infrastructure and marine sector. He reiterated that innovation is key factor for developing the raw material and yarn for specialised application especially in textile reinforced concrete Technology in India. His work in the technical textiles in this field is awarded national award.
The Textile Association (India), Mumbai Unit felicitated Vipan Kalra, Chairman, Madura Industrial Textiles with “The Lifetime Achievement Award” and Chakresh Jain, Group President – Technical, Supreme Nonwovens Industries with “The Industry Excellence Award” for their outstanding contribution in their respective field of technical textiles.
Haresh B Parekh, Convenor of the seminar and Secretary, TAI, Mumbai Unit, proposed Vote of Thanks.
Technical Sessions
SESSION – I
During the technical session I, following papers were presented by the eminent speakers.
– Varqha Bagwan, Scientific Researcher | Country Representative – India, Fabric Production, ITA – Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, Germany made the presentation on “From Traditional to Technical Textiles: A Transformation Roadmap for Indian Manufacturers”.
– Shridhar Dixit, General Manager – Sales & Marketing, Yamuna Machine Works presented the paper on “Advanced Coating & Lamination Architectures for Technical Textiles”.
– Manish Mashilkar, Sr Manager-Sales and Deepak Karade, Deputy General Manager, Textile Engineering Group – Processing, ATE Enterprises made the presentation on “Warp Knitting Technical Textiles and Coating Technology for Technical Textiles”.
– Manjiri Paranjape, Vice President (R&D), Rossari Biotech Ltd. made the presentation on “Elevating Athletic Performance with Textile Finishes”.
– Anish Jiwarajka, Executive Director, Jiwarajka Textile Industries presented the paper on “Technical Textiles — From Yarn to Performance”.
The papers were well received by the delegates as witnessed by formal and informal interaction with each speaker
Session – II
During the technical session II, following five papers were presented by the eminent speakers.
– Avinash Misar, Director & CEO, Coreshield Industries made the presentation on “Emerging Growth Opportunities – Protective Textiles”.
– Dayal Mehta JAIN, CEO & Business Evangelist, Alliance of Indian Technical Textile Industries & Startups (AiTTiS), Country Head & CGO, AF. Corp., Taiwan presented paper on “Startup Opportunities in Technical Textiles: From Innovation to Commercialisation”.
– Paresh Shah, Business Head, Rabatex Industries made the presentation on “Technical Textiles Innovation & Machinery Excellence”.
– Abhishek Shankar Kamble, Director, Clean Globe India made the presentation on “Sustainability in Fashion / Textile & Certification”.
– Sudipto Mandal, Regional Sales Director, Barmag India and Leading Nonwoven Technology Innovation engineered for Performance and Shridhar Dhumal – Regional Sales Director, Barmag India made the presentation on “Focus on Advance Machinery for Activewear/Sportswear | Bico-Component Yarn Demand, Fiber Architectures, Market Insights | Barmag Bico Spinning Technology & Concepts”.
At the end of presentations by all the speakers, delegates got an opportunity to exchange ideas with the speakers on their respective areas of presentation.
Session III- Panel discussion
A Panel Discussion on the topic ‘“Future of Technical Textiles: Innovation, Sustainability & Market Readiness’ was featured as one of the important events of the seminar. The discussions were moderated by Avinash Mayekar, Managing Director, Suvin Expo LLP and the panel was comprised of senior leaders from the technical textile industry. The panel members came up with some radical thoughts which could be helpful for the growth of Technical Textile industry.
– Mahesh Bapat, Founder & CEO, Threads Technology India
– Chandrashekhar V Kanade, Chief Operating Officer-Technical Textiles,
– Strata Geosystems (India)
– Tejas Mashruwala, CEO/President, Fiberglass Division, SKAPS Industries
– Avinash Misar, Director & CEO, Coreshield Industries
The panel discussions were followed by a very good question & answer session with thoughtful exchange of notes by panel members and delegates on the prospects of development of Technical Textiles in India.
The TAI Mumbai Unit’s Seminar organised at Vapi was a grand success and was attended by over 200 participants.