National Technical Textiles Mission

National Technical Textiles Mission

Under the National Technical Textiles Mission, the Ministry of Textiles recently approved 23 key research projects costing roughly Rs 60 crores in Specialty Fibers, Sustainable Textiles, Geotextiles, Mobiltech, and Sports Textiles.

Details about the news

• The research initiatives cost about 60 crores of rupees.
• 12 Specialty Fibers Projects with Applications in Agriculture, Smart Textiles, Healthcare, Strategic Application, and Protective Gears were Approved from Among These 23 Research Projects.
• Four sustainable textile projects with applications in the agricultural and healthcare sectors were approved.
• One project from Mobiltech, one from Sportech, and five projects from Geotextile were approved.

The National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM): What do we know?

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved it in 2020 with a total outlay of Rs. 1480 crore.
• The four-year implementation term runs from the fiscal years 2020–21 to 2023–24.
• Goal: By increasing the local market's size from USD 40 billion to USD 50 billion by 2024, the mission's goal is to establish India as a global leader in technical textiles.
• Additionally, it backs the "Make in India" initiative, which encourages domestic production of relevant machinery and equipment.

Components:

• First element: With a budget of Rs. 1,000 crores, it will concentrate on research, development, and innovation.
• The study will focus on the creation of biodegradable technical textiles as well as geo, agro, medicinal, sports, and mobile textiles at the fibre level.
• Additionally, the development of domestic machinery and process equipment will be the main focus of research operations.
• The market for technical textiles will be promoted and developed as the second component.
• In contrast to wealthy nations, where the penetration of technical textiles is between 30 and 70%, India has a low level, between 5 and 10%.
• By 2024, the Mission intends to have an average annual growth of 15% to 20%.
• The third component will concentrate on export promotion in order to increase technical textile exports from the nation from Rs 14,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore by 2021–2022, and to guarantee an annual average growth rate of 10% until the Mission is completed.
• There will be established an export promotion council for technological textiles.
• It will emphasise education, training, and skill development as its fourth component.
• The Mission will support technical education pertaining to technical textiles and their application fields at higher engineering and technology levels.

Situation in the Textile Industry:

• In India, the growth of technological textiles has accelerated over the previous five years and is currently rising at a pace of 8% annually.
• It aspires to accelerate this growth over the course of the following five years to a range of 15-20%.

• According to estimates, the Indian technical textiles market is about USD 16 billion, or roughly 6% of the USD 250 billion worldwide technical textiles market.
• The USA, western Europe, China, and Japan (20–40% share) are the major players.

Issues in the Textile Industry:

• Raw material shortage: The closure of several factories in China and Europe owing to pollution problems has led to an unprecedented increase in the price of essential raw materials in global markets.
• Cost of raw materials is rising as a result of the shutdown of numerous facilities in China owing to pollution regulations.
• Strict labour laws: India's system of labour laws is quite intricate. Over 200 labour laws exist, comprising 25% of Central Acts. Several labour laws, like the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, place restrictions on business size and prevent manufacturing companies from expanding.
• Demand to adhere to strict social and environmental standards: As pressure grows for the apparel sector to step up environmental compliance efforts, failure to do so can jeopardise the supply chain.
• Infrastructure bottlenecks: India's subpar infrastructure has been a significant barrier. As a result of the practise of physical labour, there is inefficiency.
• Highly fragmented: The unorganised sector and small and medium-sized businesses dominate India's textile industry, which is highly fragmented.
• Regional disparities: The textile industry of the nation is mainly concentrated in a few areas of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the south and Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west. These units mostly hire people from West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh as their source of labour.

Implementation & Governance:

A three-tier institutional system, consisting of the following, will be used to carry out the mission:

• Mission Steering Committee: The group will be given the authority to approve all financial standards with regard to the mission's plans, components, and programme.
• All technological and scientific research projects related to the mission will need to be approved by the group.
• Empowered Programme Committee: The committee will be tasked with approving any initiatives (apart from research projects) that fall within the scope of various programmes and their allotted budgets, as determined by the Mission Steering Group.
• The committee will also be tasked with overseeing how the mission's various components are being carried out.
• Technical Textiles Committee on Research, Development, and Innovation: This committee will be in charge of selecting research projects and recommending them to the Mission Steering Group for approval.
• These initiatives will be focused on important fields including atomic energy, space exploration, security, and defence.

Additional government programmes for the textile industry

Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textile Sector:

• The government approved the PLI Scheme for textile products, including MMF Apparel, MMF Fabrics, and Products of Technical Textiles, with an approved financial outlay of Rs 10,683 crore over a five-year period in order to improve India's manufacturing capabilities and enhance exports.
• The incentive will be provided for 5 years after the first year of post-investment operation during the investment period of 2 years.

Aim:

• The purpose of the PLI programme for textiles is to encourage the manufacture of high-quality Man-Made Fibre (MMF) fabrics, apparel, and technological textiles.

PM MITRA Park Scheme

• The seven Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) parks will be built on greenfield or brownfield properties spread across various states.
• It is consistent with the "Atma Nirbhar Bharat" concept and positions India prominently on the world textiles map.
• It will be created by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that will be a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the State Government of India and the Government of India.
• It draws inspiration from the Indian Prime Minister's 5F vision. The "5F" Formula includes:
• farm to fibre;
• fibre to factory;
• factory to fashion;
• fashion to foreign.

Other:

• The Ministry of Textiles published The New Textiles Policy 2020 for the sector's overall development.

• The government has approved 100% FDI through the automatic route in the industry.
• The "Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS)" is a new skill-development programe that was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

Way Forward

• In the area of technical textiles, the nation needs to close its technological gap.
• The key focus areas should be the identification of the technical textiles research area in conjunction with industry interaction and promotional activities like conferences, exhibitions, and buyer-seller meetings in order to promote the use of technical textiles in the nation and to increase exports.