National Technical Textiles Mission: Under its flagship programme, the National Technical Textiles Mission, the central government has approved at least 20 strategic research projects totalling approximately Rs 74 crore. These projects are related to different fields including speciality fibre, agro-textiles, smart textiles, protective gear, sports textiles, and geo textiles.
According to reports, these projects were cleared on Tuesday, November 1, under the leadership of Piyush Goyal, Minister of Textiles, Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
"Industry and academia linkages are essential for the growth of research and development in the application areas of technical textiles in India. Building convergence with academicians, scientists and researchers is the need of the hour," Goyal stated while addressing a group of scientists and technology experts.
He also emphasised the significance of the contributions made by scientists, academicians, and technology and industry specialists to India's future progress in technical textiles.
According to Goyal, despite the widespread use of speciality fibres in India, the indigenization of the technology remains a significant problem that requires the cooperation of both industry and academia.
Additionally, the minister batted for a substantial indigenization of machinery and equipment for the technical textile industry in order for it to gain a stable foothold in the international market.
"Revision of R&D guidelines and creation of dedicated indigenous machinery and equipment development guidelines under National Technical Textiles Mission was discussed and recommended by the committee during the meeting," a statement said.
To bolster the innovation and research ecosystem in technical textiles, National Technical Textiles Mission will support the ideation and prototyping of R&D projects worth up to Rs 50 lakh and Rs 100 lakh respectively, which have clear potential to translate into commercial products and technologies.
The textile minister also shared his inputs pertaining to technical textiles with the officials from different ministries.
"Leading Indian institutes, including IITs, government organisations, research organisations and eminent industrialists, among others participated in the session which cleared projects strategic for the development of the Indian economy and a step in the direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India), especially in the field of geotech, industrial and protective, agriculture and infrastructure," Goyal added.
(With PTI inputs)
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