A delegation from the Indian Technical Textile Industry, organised by the Indian Technical Textile Association (ITTA), met Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Textiles, and shared the current scenario and future needs of the industry. The delegation was led by Avinash Misar, Chairman, ITTA along with eminent Industry leaders, namely Mohan Kavrie of Supreme Nonwovens; Narendra Dalmia of Strata Geosystems; Mahesh Kudav, of Venus Safety & Health and Vice-chairman, ITTA, Amit Agarwal of CTM Technical Textiles & Ex-Chairman and other Directors of ITTA, representing key segments of the Technical Textiles.
ITTA expressed sincere gratitude to the Minister for sparing his valuable time and listening to all the important points presented to him and the recommended solutions. The presentation outlines the following key points for the discussion —
- Availability of Basic Raw materials, mainly specialty fibers/yarns and chemicals/Polymers which are not produced in India but they are essential for manufacturing high-end technical textile products. QCOs has been imposed on the Polyester Staple & IDY yarns including all variants. But many of the specialised variants are not produced in India and industry is dependent on import. We suggested not to include these specialised variants in the same QCO notification. On this aspect, HMOT was very positive to help us by taking it to the Ministry of Chemicals & Petrochemical (MCP). He also advised us to represent directly to the MCP.
- There are many other high-tech fibres/years, namely like Nylon 6.6, Meta and Para Aramids, UHMPE, Mod-Acrylic, Flame Retardant, certain grades Glass & Carbon and other metallic fibres on which there are no BIS specifications are available and so no QCO on them. On these fibres also industry needs no curb on imports. The Minister stated that they will look into the matter and provide a solution moving forward
- Mandatory Procurement by Government departments/ PSUs & States to Increase domestic consumption.
- Higher growth of technical textiles can be ensured by active Brand promotion of Indian Technical textiles in all major International and domestic events.
- Increasing Per-capita consumption through mandatory use of the technical textile products in specific applications for higher market growth. A monitoring system at inter-ministerial level will help to implement this.
The Minister shared the insightful vision of the GOI for the future of technical textiles, support through NTTM and PLI schemes, emphasizing the importance of integrating emerging technologies with cost-effective strategies to ensure the growth of the industry. The interaction with the Minister and the industry delegation was very lively and we deeply appreciate his willingness to engage with us and finding solutions to the crucial issues currently affecting our industry.