Glad tidings have come from Indias man-made fibre (MMF) export front, after seven consecutive quarters of decline in its growth. MMF textile exports for the 9-month period, April 2013 to December 2013 touched US $4.2 billion against US $3.8 billion. One of the reasons attributed for this sudden spurt in demand is the tremendous innovation Indian producers of MMF textile have made over the years. Today many producers can boast of world-class fabric preferred by leading retailers in the developed western markets. Yet another reason could be the boost technical textile sector in India is getting now since MMF textiles have substantial end-uses in this segment. MMF textile industry is in a challenging environment since it faces tough competition from other manufacturing countries like China, Indonesia and Thailand. The industry has been demanding a mechanism for neutralising the State-level taxes to make Indian MMF products more competitive. Besides, Indias home textile front is in a very strong position and even now most of the industry is eyeing that segment for further growth. Innovations and import of machinery to cater to the technical textile sector is totally lacking in India. While globally per capita consumption of man-made fibre is around 12 kg, in India it is merely 3.5 kg per annum. The applications of some synthetic fibres including acetate, polyester, acrylic, olefin, PLA, spandex, glass fibre, metallic fibre and acrolynite have been growing in the country. Still they need more research and coordination among the interested parties to promote their uses. This only can ultimately give the much-needed expansion and diversification in the technical textile sector. In this endeavour, all routes including joint ventures & technology transfers must be explored in order to give a fresh impetus to the synthetic fibre industry, which only can finally lend a new thrust to technical textiles.
