India’s textile industry is entering a new era, where advanced chemistry is changing. Divya Shetty explores how cleaner, smarter chemical solutions are redefining and how textiles are processed, finished and made future-ready.
As textile manufacturing moves towards lower resource consumption, tighter compliance and greater circularity, chemistry is being asked to do far more than provide colour or finish. It must now work with faster machinery, reduce water and energy use, support recyclability, meet brand and regulatory expectations, and still preserve the productivity, performance and economics on which mills depend.
The story focuses on how chemistry changes are already reshaping textile processing, to the challenge of taking innovation onto the mill floor, and finally to the technologies and investment choices that could define the sector towards 2030.
The chemistry shift has already begun
There are multiple forces changing textile chemistry today. Umasankar Sinha Mahapatra, Managing Director, Pulcra Chemicals Group, placed environmental safety at the centre of the shift, but made clear that sustainability is only one of several forces. Hazardous chemistries are being phased out, machinery is becoming faster and more resource-efficient, petroleum-based inputs are increasingly being challenged by bio-based alternatives, and customers are demanding new functionality from textiles. “Chemicals need to be safe for the people working in mills, safe for consumers and, at the end of their life cycle, should not create disposal problems for Mother Earth.” Mahapatra said.
These pressures are already visible in the chemistry portfolio. APEO-free and bio-based surfactants are replacing older systems; fluorochemical-based water repellents are giving way to alternatives; formaldehyde-releasing finishes are being reduced or eliminated; and bisphenol-free fixing agents and restricted-siloxane alternatives are gaining relevance. Concentrated and multifunctional chemicals are also emerging because they can reduce packaging, transportation and the number of products needed in a process. At the same time, enzyme-based, bio-based and probiotic chemistries are widening the industry’s choices.
For Anjani Prasad, Vice President South Asia, Archroma, however, the discussion cannot stop at the environmental profile of an individual chemical. Mills still operate under intense pressure on colour, performance and cost, so the value of chemistry has to be judged as part of a complete process system. Reproducibility, right-first-time production, batch consistency and better connectivity between laboratory and bulk production are therefore critical. Digitalisation and AI could increasingly help close the gap between laboratory recipes, actual chemical consumption and production outcomes. “At the end of the day, mills are looking for savings. The entire value chain, from fibre to garment, is under tremendous cost pressure. So, the question is how to bring those costs down.” Prasad said.
He also pointed to a deeper materials challenge: much of today’s polymer chemistry remains non-degradable, leaving substantial room for innovation in biodegradation and bio-elimination. The implication is important. A sustainable textile process cannot be created simply by replacing one chemical with another; it requires development across polymers, dyes, auxiliaries, machinery and process design.
From the business perspective, Amir Sheikh, Principal Consultant, Gherzi Consulting Engineers, linked this chemical transition to changes in sourcing, regulation, digitalisation and brand behaviour. Global retailers are becoming more direct in their relationships with manufacturers, while policy-led sustainability requirements and eco-design expectations are increasing transparency across the value chain. For Indian manufacturers, this creates both compliance pressure and a market opportunity: suppliers capable of delivering verifiable sustainability, quality and cost competitiveness can strengthen their position as sourcing patterns shift. “Apart from this, sustainability has been a buzzword for several years, but it is no longer just a buzzword. It is becoming a policy imperative, leading to several regulations around the world, particularly in developed markets.” Sheikh said.
That policy shift also changes how mills should evaluate chemistry. The face value of a chemical tells only part of the story. Process time, effluent load, water, energy and steam consumption, recyclability and the value delivered to the final product all affect the real cost. Chemistry will therefore be judged increasingly on outcomes rather than price per kilogram.
Prof Ashok Athalye, Faculty & Head, Department of Fibres and Textile Processing Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), added the research perspective, highlighting developments that could change both materials and processing. These include renewable-feedstock fibres, neutral-pH reactive dyes for polyester-cellulosic blends, single-step digital pigment printing, hyperbranched dendrimers, nanobubble and mist-dyeing concepts, ultra-low-liquor-ratio processing and 3D printing for stitchless garment manufacture. Many of these technologies promise substantial reductions in water, energy or process steps. Yet the issue is not a shortage of ideas. “The technologies are available. The challenge is the commercial viability of technologies developed by academic and research institutions.” Athalye said.
Taking innovation to the mill floor
When asked about how mills can use advanced chemical solutions to reduce water, energy and processing requirements without sacrificing productivity, quality or cost competitiveness. The answers showed that resource efficiency is no longer a peripheral sustainability goal; it is becoming a direct operating requirement as energy, fibre, chemicals, coal and transportation become more expensive.
Mahapatra cited denim processing as a practical example. Improved pre-treatment and fixation can sharply reduce water use in indigo and sulphur dyeing, while better fixation can reduce the dyestuff required and lower the colour load discharged to effluent treatment. Low-temperature soaping is another example: processes that once operated near boiling temperature can now, in some cases, work at 40-45°C, reducing steam consumption and heating time while increasing throughput. Single-bath pre-treatment and dyeing, rapid polyester dyeing, spray, mist, foam and localised colour application offer further routes to lower resource use. “Resource saving is therefore extremely critical. We need to work across the entire value chain, not only on the processing side, but from fibre through the final cut-and-sew stage and subsequent processes.” Mahapatra said.
His point extended even to garment care. Domestic laundering, drying and ironing are part of a garment’s life-cycle footprint, so lower-temperature washing and changes in care behaviour can complement improvements made inside the mill.
Prasad widened the lens further. Dyes and chemicals account for only a portion of garment-stage impact; fibre, utilities, machinery and processing systems can create much larger resource demands. For mills, therefore, water and power savings, motor efficiency, steam generation, transmission losses, equipment utilisation and process control all need attention. Higher dye fixation and better exhaustion can reduce the water required for washing and soaping, while combining what are currently separate processes for blended fabrics could remove entire stages.
He also warned against investing in resource-control equipment without building the operating capability to use it effectively. The best chemistry cannot compensate for inefficient machinery or poorly controlled processes. This is particularly important in India, where job processing and commission processing create wide variations in technology level and operating discipline.
Recycling adds another layer. Mechanical recycling and conversion into composites are already possible, but chemical recycling depends on the ability to separate, strip or dissolve complex combinations of fibres, dyes and finishes. Chemistries that become impossible to remove at end of life can block recycling before it begins. Designing chemistry for circularity therefore means considering not only application performance, but also eventual disassembly or regeneration.
Sheikh returned to the investment logic behind sustainable chemistry. Indian mills often compare products directly on purchase price, but this can hide savings elsewhere in the process. A chemical that reduces litres of water per kilogram of fabric, enables lower-temperature processing, reduces salt, cuts effluent-treatment cost or improves right-first-time production may create greater total value even when its purchase price is higher. “When somebody assesses a chemical, they should also look at the savings and the actual environmental footprint per kilogram of material.” Sheikh said.
This approach becomes even more important when manufacturers consider future compliance. Delaying a chemistry change until a regulation or customer mandate arrives can create additional trial costs, lost time and market-access risk. Reprocessing is another hidden cost: if a new product reduces the need to rerun batches, its business case improves beyond the chemical invoice alone. The right metric, then, is not the cheapest input but the most competitive total process.
Yet taking promising research to commercial scale remains difficult. Athalye described a structural mismatch between academic research and industrial expectations. Academic work may use high-purity materials, controlled equipment and methodical development timelines, while industry needs solutions that work under bulk production conditions, deliver quickly and generate both revenue and margin. “Industry operates around one PBT—profit before tax—while academic research focuses on another PBT: persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity.” Athalye said.
The gap is not purely technical. First adopters carry reputational and financial risk if a laboratory-proven process fails at scale. This creates a familiar adoption problem: industry waits for commercial proof, but commercial proof cannot emerge without an early adopter. Bridging this gap will require stronger mechanisms for pilot-scale validation, industry-academia partnerships and risk-sharing around scale-up.
Circularity, scale and the road to 2030
Chemistry can be evolved as recycled fibres, complex blends and new textile applications gain ground. Mahapatra distinguished between pre-consumer and post-consumer waste. India, he said, already performs strongly in utilising mill-level waste, with recycling activity spreading beyond traditional clusters into large corporates and industrial regions. PET-bottle recycling has also matured considerably, and chemistry now helps improve cleaning, whiteness, colour and downstream processing of recycled polyester.
The more difficult frontier is post-consumer textile-to-textile recycling. Garments containing cotton, polyester, polyamide, spandex, coatings, dyes and finishes are far harder to separate and regenerate. Some waste can be repurposed into insulation, mattress filling, panels or composites, but these routes may amount to downcycling when higher-value fibre recovery is possible. The economics of each pathway therefore matter as much as technical feasibility. “If something is too complex to recycle and you are putting more energy into recycling than the value being recovered, then there is little point.” Mahapatra said.
That principle suggests a hierarchy: retain material at the highest-value application that is technically and economically sensible, then move to lower-value uses only when necessary. It also creates an opportunity for speciality chemical companies to develop lubricants, antistatic agents, levelling agents, cleaning systems and separation chemistries specifically for recycled feedstocks.
Prasad argued that breakthrough innovation will require more than incremental product improvement. India needs better mechanisms to identify promising research, create innovation portfolios, connect institutes with industry, improve patenting and help successfully piloted technologies reach scale. Innovation must extend from fibre to machinery and chemistry. Lower-temperature dyeable polyester, more biodegradable surfactants, new colours derived from waste and better analytical testing are all possible areas, but the country must become better at turning research into accessible commercial technology. “The principle is simple: what you test, you can control. What you do not test, you cannot control.” Prasad said.
For Sheikh, the next three to five years should see investment concentrate on resource-efficient machinery, greener chemicals, R&D, digitalisation, automation and recycling. Low-liquor-ratio systems and technologies that reduce energy and environmental footprint are especially important for manufacturers targeting demanding global customers. Automation can also reduce dependence on operator-held knowledge by making recipes, process control and production decisions more systematic.
The opportunity is significant, particularly as sourcing shifts and recycled-content requirements evolve. But the same requirements can become non-tariff barriers if Indian suppliers are not ready. Waterless and other advanced dyeing technologies illustrate the challenge: the technology may be promising, yet commercial adoption depends on cost reduction and scale. “It could become a barrier, but it could also become an opportunity for us. It depends on how we capitalise on it.” Sheikh said.
Looking further ahead, Athalye described the possibility of structural colour technologies such as Morphotex, where nanostructures create colour through reflection and refraction rather than conventional wet coloration. If such materials become commercially viable, they could remove substantial parts of dyeing and finishing and reduce liquid effluent, gaseous emissions and solid waste. Whether or not that specific route reaches mass scale, the direction is clear: future textile development will increasingly be judged through life-cycle analysis and the lowest achievable water and energy footprints.
The inputs also exposed a related innovation bottleneck: patents and commercial timing. Sachin Kumar Arora, Executive Director, Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association (TMMA India), raised examples where long patent cycles or different interpretations of novelty affected innovators’ ability to commercialise technologies. Mahapatra noted that prior art can be interpreted differently across jurisdictions, while Athalye pointed to the difficulty patent examiners may face in understanding sector-specific technical nuances. Arora’s example of an embroidery-machine innovator who obtained a patent only after years of delay underlined the commercial consequence: innovation can lose relevance before protection arrives.
The textile industry’s transition is not waiting for a single breakthrough chemical. It is being shaped simultaneously by safer inputs, lower-temperature processes, water and energy efficiency, better fixation, digital control, circular design, recycling, new fibres, automation and stronger innovation systems. Chemistry sits at the intersection of all of them.
For Indian mills, the next competitive advantage will come from treating chemistry not as a consumable cost but as a process and product-performance lever. For chemical companies, it means designing solutions around measurable outcomes and end-of-life compatibility. For academia, it means moving promising research closer to scalable operating conditions. And for policymakers and industry institutions, it means reducing the distance between invention, validation, protection and commercial adoption.
The shift, in other words, is from greener products to greener systems. The mills that can connect chemistry, machinery, data, resource productivity and circularity will be better placed not only to comply with the next generation of requirements, but to compete for the next generation of textile demand.
(The story has been created from the webinar ITJ conducted on 21st August, 2026 )
Quotes to highlight:
- “Consumer-centric businesses are now hearing directly from consumers that they may not mind paying a little extra, provided circularity and sustainability requirements are being met.”
- Sachin Kumar Arora, Executive Director, TMMA India
- “Chemicals need to be safe for the people working in mills, safe for consumers and, at the end of their life cycle, should not create disposal problems for Mother Earth.”
- Umasankar Sinha Mahapatra, Managing Director, Pulcra Chemicals Group
- “We need innovations that require less gas, less water and fewer resources in textile production. That, to me, is the best direction for innovation.”
- Anjani Prasad, Vice President South Asia, Archroma
- “When somebody assesses a chemical, they should also look at the savings and the actual environmental footprint per kilogram of material.”
- Amir Sheikh, Principal Consultant, Gherzi Consulting Engineers
- “Several technologies are becoming popular, including nanobubble technology, mist-dyeing concepts, ultra-low-liquor-ratio processing and 3D printing for stitchless garment manufacturing.”
- Prof Ashok Athalye, Faculty & Head, Department of Fibres and Textile Processing Technology, ICT
IN A BOX
Future technologies to watch
- Bio-Based & Recycled Inputs: Shifting from petrochemical-based synthetic polyesters to bio-based alternatives derived from corn starch or sugarcane.
- Low-Temperature Processing: Transitioning soaping and washing processes from near-boiling points down to 40°C to 45°C to slash steam and energy consumption.
- Advanced Application Methods: Exploring nanobubble technology, mist-dyeing concepts, ultra-low-liquor-ratio processing, and drop-on-drop digital pigment printing.
- Structural Coloration: Researching advanced concepts like Morphotex, where nanostructures create color through reflect