ITTA and NTTM organised National conclave on Sportech

Darshana Jardosh, Minister of State for Textiles & Railways, GoI, was the chief guest of the conclave and addressed the delegates.

Indian Technical Textile Association (ITTA) jointly with the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), MoT, GoI and in partnership with the Wool Research Association, COE, Sportech have organised the National Conclave On Sportech – “The Future of Sport Textiles and Accessories Industry in India” at New Delhi.

Darshana Jardosh, Minister of State for Textiles & Railways, GoI, was the chief guest of the conclave and addressed the delegates. In a special interactive session, she actively discussed and answered the questions raised by the industry representatives and other delegates along with Rachna Shah, Secretary- Textiles, MoT, GoI,. The context setting of this session was done by Rajeev Saxena, Joint Secretary, MoT, GoI.

The Objective of the conclave, having conference & exhibition was to create awareness on the latest product innovations & technology developments, acquire knowledge & ideas for new investments & export opportunities on sports textile, enhance knowledge base on requirement of current Sportech industries & market, to understand product standards & certification process and creating the B2B & B2G platform for sports textile industry.

The leading sportswear brands and senior officials from leading associations, namely Sports Authority of India (SAI), All India Football Federation (AIFF), Sports Goods Manufacturers & Exporters Association (SGMEA), Sports Goods Export Promotion Council (SGEPC) gave the presentations on their requirements & expectations on Sportech products. More than 300 delegates attended the conclave and got the networking opportunity with potential buyers and senior government officials.

In the inaugural session, welcome address was given by Amit Agarwal, Chairman, ITTA followed by key note address by Rajeev Saxena, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, GoI and address by Rajesh Kr. Pathak,Secretary, Technology development Board, GOI. A short film on Technical Textiles prepared by NTTM was shown to delegates covering the overall scenario and progress made by the NTTM.

There were four Technical Sessions in the conference. First Session deliberate ways to unlock the requirements & experience of Indian Sportech consumers like Sports Authority of India, Sports Associations, SGEPC, Mountaineering Institutes and Leisure Sport Agencies. FDI opportunities in Sportech & market size assessment was presented by Invest India. Session was moderated by Bhavna Rathee, Assistant Vice President- Invest India and Eminent panelists were  Vishnu Bhagat, CEO, Shiv Naresh Sports; N Mohan, Director & CEO- Kothari Industrial Corp; Amit Jain, Managing Director- Shingora Textile; R Selvam, Executive Director- Council for Leather Exports; Shubhra Agarwal, Trade Advisor- Ministry of Textiles and Aprajita Saini, Manager- Startup India.

Next session was moderated by Dr Anup Rakshit, Executive Director, ITTA, dealt with Sports Goods and Accessories covering Footwear components, Shoe uppers, use of Coated fabrics, Leather and Rubber products. Presentations and discussions by the following panelists were focused on details of the above areas- Smt. Susmita R. Jyotsi, Regional Director- Sports Authority of India (SAI), Arun Kumar Sinha, IAS, Managing Director- Footwear Design & Development Institute; Dr K Rajkumar, Director- Indian Rubber Manufacturers Research Association (IRMRA) and Sunil Gupta, Principal Director- Process Cum Product Development Centre (PPDC).

Third session was devoted to Innovations & Research in Composites and Smart Textiles and moderated by Dr Bipin Kumar, Assistant Professor, IIT-Delhi. Panelists were- Dr Sanjay R Dhakate, Chief Scientist and Professor AcSIR, Head- Advanced Materials and Devices Division, CSIR-NPL; Dr Nandan Kumar, Managing Director- High Performance Textiles and K K Misra, Director & COO, Wool Research Association. This session focused on the Raw materials like conductive Threads and Fabrics used in Sportech, latest innovations & future opportunities in composites and Smart Technology in Sportswear.

The fourth session Focused on Design, Branding & Quality in the Value Chain, which was moderated by Anjani Kumar Prasad, M.D & Head Business, Archroma India. The eminent panelists were- Roop Rashi, Textile Commissioner- Ministry of Textiles; A Sunil Kumar, Director- Techno Sportswear; Dr Ketan Kumar Vadodaria, Associate Senior Faculty- National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; Dr V Senthil Kumar, Associate Professor- National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi; Mayur Katiyar, Scientist B- Textiles, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Dr Mrinal Choudhari, Joint Director- Wool Research Association. Panel members addressed the problems for availing latest technology for manufacturing sportswear, Sustainable solutions to the specific issues & concerns, Challenges faced in supply chain management, Quality standards & Certification required for QCO of sportswear.

Finally, the conference was concluded by giving vote of thanks by Avinash Misar, Vice Chairman, ITTA.