Business Leaders Cite Lack of Raw Materials as Key Challenge

Conclusions from Business
Leaders' workshops
IIT Delhi organised seven stakeholder workshops in the months of Oct.-Dec. 2020 to elicit opinions to enrich
the understanding of the industry and to capture voices of stakeholders. These were conducted in the online
mode. The dates and stakeholder groups were as follows:
Table 8.1: Technical textiles stakeholder workshops conducted - Baseline Study 2020
Workshop Participants’ Category Date No. of Participants
1 TRAs and Academic Institutions th
14 Oct. 2020 7
2 Apex Business Associations st
21 Oct. 2020 6
3 Business Leaders from Protech Segment 28th Oct. 2020 7
4 Business Leaders from Meditech Segment 11 Nov. 2020
th
7
5 Business Leaders from Clothtech, Hometech and 25 Nov. 2020
th
8
Sportech Segments
6 Business Leaders from Agrotech, Geotech and 2nd Dec. 2020 8
Oekotech Segments
7 Business Leaders from Buildtech, Indutech, Mobiltech 9th Dec. 2020 9
and Packtech Segments
This section presents the major conclusions that emerged during deliberations in these workshops. This effort
is meant to improve the understanding of how the business leaders perceive the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats in general but also in specific terms. The content has been organised as per
individual workshops and it has been attempted to eliminate repetitive points unless until these were thought
of as imperatives from the high frequency of their mention. Such imperative points even though repetitive
have been mentioned in more than one workshop.
The conclusions from the workshops conducted with participation of business leaders (Workshops 3-7) are
presented in the following pages across 4 pillars:
1. Resource availability for Technical Textiles
2. Markets and Marketing of Technical Textiles
3. Future developments expected in Technical Textiles
4. Impediments to growth for Technical Textiles in India

Section 8: Conclusions from Business Leaders' workshops
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8.1 Resource availability for Technical Textiles

Workshop 3: Protech
 Lack of availability of raw materials, high cost of developing advanced products, etc. are major
challenges to the protective textile industry. Moreover, due to the high cost of the product, the
domestic demand for protective clothing is small.
 The ballistic textile market is highly dependent on imports because the two major fibres viz. Ultra-high
molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and aramid fibres whose requirement is in the ratio of
80:20 are not manufactured in India.
 There is a severe lack of skilled (soft and technical) engineers with management knowledge. It is
proving to be a major deficiency for the industry. The absence of any specific curriculum for teaching
and training about technical textiles to the students reults in high training and onboarding costs for
the industry. This reduces their competitiveness.
 Dependence on imported raw materials is one of the major barriers to growth. There is a woeful lack
of indigenous manufacturers of high-performance fibres. Manufacturing of high-performance fibres
needs long term planning and huge investments with a robust R&D infrastructure. India needs more
fundamental materials research and government funding.
Workshop 4: Meditech
 It was highlighted that the major nonwoven components of Meditech are imported. An example was
cited of the components of a diaper wherein top and back sheet, acquisition distribution layer (ADL)
and soft nonwovens used in diaper are imported from abroad. Excessive reliance on imports is a key
impediment in development of the medical textile industry.
 The major challenges facing Indian medical textile industry as a result of covid pandemic are, sudden
jump in price of hygiene and sanitation products, increased cost on health of employees, 25% drop in
utilization of productive assets and drop in manufacturing efficiency due to social distancing norms,
difficulty in restoring manpower availability, higher absenteeism, disruptions in supply chain which
affected by delay in receipt of input materials, widened supply–demand gap which leads to price-hike,
difficulties and delays in cargo handling, drop in demand and cancellation of international
orders/tenders, denial of small orders by raw material suppliers affecting new business possibilities
and uncertainty on Merchandise Exports India Scheme (MEIS) incentives.
 A comparative analysis was presented comparing established and small manufactures. The
established manufactures have capacity for large production, multiple manufacturing facilities across
the globe, better control on raw material supplies as well as costs and superior distribution and sales
network, whereas the small manufacturers have better reach in the local market with more product
customisation flexibility as per consumer’s demand. Basically, the big players complained that they
faced unfair competition from small players which constitute 50% of market share of the medical
textile industry.
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Technical Textiles Industry in India: Opportunities and Challenges - 197 -
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 There are basic barriers to cutting edge research and development of technology in India’s medical
textile sector.
 Availability of skilled manpower for medical textiles is another hindrance against the growth of this
sector.
 The biggest problem in development of Indian medical textile market is lack of raw materials.
Unavailability of Pilot/Small batch process, weak supply chain management (SCM) and inadequate
R&D for innovative products, high dependence on imported raw materials and machinery were noted
as the foremost weakness of Indian technical textile industry.
 The high capital cost of establishing capital infrastructure in India is a hurdle for industrialists. Higher
investment in technology and machineries is hurting the development of this sector. In this regard
involvement of the government is required in setting up good facilities and infrastructure for leasing to
entrepreneurs. Such an initiative will ultimately compel all the manufacturers (especially MSME) to
follow good manufacturing practises (GMP) and improve the overall competitiveness of the industry.
Workshop 5: Clothtech, Hometech and Sportech

 There is a lack of good converters of technical textile finished products in Indian textile supply chain.
There is a lack of collaboration between industry and technical institutions for research &
development.
 There is a huge gap between R&D laboratories where product development takes place and the fabric
producer in Indian technical textile domain.
 The lack of facilities to promote manufacturing of raw materials and inputs creates disadvantage for
Indian manufacturers.
 R&D must work hand in hand with the marketing department to develop new products and find new
markets to increase the size of the market.
 In Clothtech segment, lack of local machine manufacturing has resulted in import dependence on
China.
 One of the panellists highlighted that major products of the Sportech segment are imported from
outside and not manufactured in India because of low consumer demand that discourages local
investors and entrepreneurs. It was also mentioned that the lack of raw material manufacturing
capacity in the country is major hurdle for Sportech industry.
 Low levels of commercialisation of new products and lack of access to advancement in new
technology are key gaps in the development of the home textile industry.
 It was highlighted by one of the participants that India is the largest producer of cotton. Farm level
traceability (that is required by markets in developed countries) of Indian grown cotton is missing in
our textile supply chain. One more important factor is lack of branding of cotton fibre (we just have
only Kasturi Cotton), whereas in the international market this has a huge impact on acceptability by
the buyers.
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 India imports all the speciality fibres from China, Japan, USA or EU countries. India also has ample
natural fibre resources but India has lagged behind on commercialisation of these fibre due to
processing and manufacturing difficulties.
 More collaboration among industry-institute and research organisations that need to be established

for utilisation of advanced technology is required. This will also provide a better platform to students
and faculties for exploring product development ideas.
 Import of major machinery from Taiwan and other European countries leads to large cost investment
for the industrialists.
 Inadequate testing facility for technical textile products is another issue. Expansion in well-equipped
laboratory facilities is an immediate step for intervention.
Workshop 6: Agrotech, Geotech and Oekotech

 Due to the widely prevalent practice of using refurbished machines which are sub-standard due to
poor quality control leads to final products being of inferior quality.
 Import dependence for technical textile machinery, lack of speciality raw material for specific end
application, lack of technical expertise and human resource, lack of focus on innovation of new
products and very little research and development are the main features of Indian Geotech industry.
 Fishnet industry also highlighted lack of local raw material and machine manufacturers as a major
challenge.
 Government should allow subsidy on refurbished branded start machines which will reduce the
investment of initial heavy capital for industrialists. India should also start manufacturing technical
textile machinery. This will also reduce the cost of maintaining and servicing the machinery.
 Graduate students do not want to work in the textile industry due to low salary and poor work-
environment.
Workshop 7: Buildtech, Indutech, Mobiltech and Packtech

 Poor availability of industry ready manpower was cited as one of the foremost challenges by Packtech
industry representatives. It was highlighted that an appropriate Packtech course with industry
interface is unavailable in Indian academia and should be started.
 The Packtech segment sector offers 60,000 white and 300,0000 blue-collar jobs. It is an export-
oriented sector that offers lot of growth opportunities.
 It was mentioned that in the technical textile domain, four aspects very important and need to be
expanded on. These four aspects are raw materials, skilled man power, advanced machinery and
sound knowledge in technology.
 Technology and machines for manufacturing of most Indutech products continues to be reliant on
imports into the country causing a big Capex barrier for the Industry.
 Similarly getting skilled manpower for Indutech is another big challenge for the industry.
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 Shortage of raw material availability, lack of testing facilities, development of more sustainable and
green products and need for more technological up-gradation and research are major issues for
Indutech.
8.2 Markets and Marketing of Technical Textiles

Almost all the participants of the workshop asserted that a vibrant domestic market for technical textiles is a
necessity for the growth of Indian technical textiles industry. In the absence of regular data gathering from
the Indian technical textiles market through market tracking and market research exercise, the assessment
made by different experts and stakeholders (most notably business leaders) about domestic market for
technical textiles can often act as an important component of the situation analysis of technical textiles in
India. It needs to be formalised so that regular and updated estimates of market size are made available to
entrepreneur and investor community. One of the important trends that has emerged in recent years is about
the increased emphasis on recycling and on reducing the use of plastics. It is likely to emerge as one of the
major drivers for increased use of technical textiles in the coming years. Some of the key observations that
were shared during the workshop were as follows:
Workshop 3: Protech
 Domestic sales are just about 20-30% of total sales for all major Indian Protech players.
 The major use of PVC coated fabrics is in producing protective clothing and in automotive industries.
 The major difficulty as reported by the participating entrepreneurs from Protech industrial units in
organised sector is the tough competition from a widely proliferating players in unorganized sector.
This not only influences but causes distortion in the costs and prices of the products.
 According to the entrepreneurs who participated in the workshop, the Indian Meditech market is
growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% and is likely to reach Rs. 7500 Crores by
2022.
 According to the estimates by the participating entrepreneurs, the CAGR for domestic market of baby
diaper, fem care and adult care category are 20%, 15% and 20% respectively. The estimates
furnished for the global market of PP nonwoven suggest that it is growing at a CAGR of 7% for
hygiene products (as per expert from Kimberley Clark).
 The main drivers for growth in Meditech market in India are as follows:
o Large and regular addition to the population
o Technological advancements and easy acceptance of such advancements by stakeholders
o The rise of health consciousness among common people
o Easy availability of low-cost manpower
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o Existence of complete textile value chain

o Emergence of India as a popular and credible destination for medical tourism among patients
from countries in south and western Asia
o Government initiatives, subsidies and incentives as part of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self- reliant
India)
o Existence of infrastructure of COEs/incubation centres
o Existence of regulated technology parks
o Growing popularity of medical insurance leading to higher propensity to avail medical
treatment
o increased awareness of personal hygiene among common people
 The rapid rise in demand is leading to a significant innovation in this segment.
 The outbreak of COVID pandemic has created and unexpected and unprecedented rise in demand of
masks, PPE kits and other products in this segment. Many self-funded Meditech industry
manufacturers (over 150+ of them are BIS certified) rose to the challenge of the pandemic and
commenced production of raw material and masks indigenously.

The major conclusions of this workshop which had business leaders from Clothtech, Hometech and Sportech
segment are as follows:
 Sewing threads dominate the Clothtech segment with 60% of the market share. It is followed by cloth
labels which have a market share of 18%. Sewing velcro, zip fasteners, elastics and shoelaces are
products in this segment which have high growth potential.
 Only about 5% (sewing thread is a major product) of the total production under clothtech is exported,
mainly to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
 Most of the demand for clothtech products is satisfied by domestic production but there are certain
clothtech products which are imported e.g. taffeta fabric used for umbrella, interlining, elastic, and
velcro.
 Government intervention in standardisation, regulation, and generating awareness for promoting the
use of technical textile products will create a necessary market pull for this industry.
 Circular economy i.e., recycling technology and the drive for sustainability is also going to provide a
significant market opportunity
 sewing threads, shoelaces, interlinings, zip fasteners, textile labels, hook and loop fasteners (Velcro),
elastic narrow fabrics, and umbrella cloth are products where major opportunities exist.
 In the home textile segment, the consumer preference has continued to shift from fashion and luxury
to health and hygiene. Demand for sustainable products has been going up.
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 Global market size for PVC Coated fabrics is $7 billion/year. It is likely to grow to double this size to
$14 billion/year over the next ten years.

 Geotextile industry in India is in its nascent stage and is attempting to rapidly catch up with the
economically developed countries. Exports have grown at a rapid pace, almost at a CAGR of 30% over
the last 5 years and these have reached INR 1,000+ crores annually.

 The Indian Indutech market has evolved from recycled polyester fibres to PP spunbonded fabric to
PVC coated textiles.
 Estimated automotive fabric consumption in India is approx. 28 million sq. meters. The estimated
domestic market size of high-performance seating fabric including passenger vehicles, commercial
vehicles, railways and airlines is estimated at INR 1100 crore per annum.
 India is dominating the Packtech segment with a global market share of 40-45%. There are 34 Indian
companies whose aggregate annual exports is about one billion USD.
 Use of better packing material to prevent wastage of food grains is catching on. There is a success
story for use of insect repellent packing which has led to the reduction of wastage of food grains from
8% to 2.2% in Punjab mandi.
 There is a success story in Buildtech segement in the form of flex which is a product in. Initially, flex
was imported from China and Korea but gradually India has become a net exporter of flex.
8.3 Future developments expected in Technical

Textiles
Workshop 3: Protech
 The emerging technologies in Protech segment are as follows:
o Seamless garmenting,
o Additive manufacturing,
o Threat detection technologies,
o Radiation barrier fabrics,
o IR protective nets
o Polyurethane coated fabric
o Filtration media for virus and bacteria,
o Air/water filtration nano-membranes,
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o Artificially intelligent fabrics, and

o Health monitoring and control sensors.
o Biochemical finish,
o Graphene,
o Printable conductive coatings,
o Phase change materials,
o Nanofibers and
o Conductive inks.
o Aluminium coated fabric panels and
o Hybrid fabrics used for protective applications (gloves, helmet, bulletproof jacket, etc.).
 Opportunities for Indian protective textile manufacturers exist in various applications in space, sports,
civil, and defence industries.
 The emerging technologies in Meditech segment are as follows:
o Spun-bound nonwovens
o Face masks
o Caps
o Aprons
o Diapers (adult and baby)
o Sanitary pads
o Nanocore
o Filters employing nonwovens
o Composites with nonwoven
o Sustainable, eco-friendly, and biodegradable medical textile products

 The emerging technologies in Hometech segment are as follows:
o Fabrics for soundproofing (room and building acoustic)
o Nonwoven products for window blinds
o 100% recyclable carpet backing cloth
o Waterproof and thermal insulator nonwovens
o Carpet tiles
o Jute for tufting carpets and tiles
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o Luxury tiles
 Sports textiles is a great opportunity for India. The emerging technologies in Sportech segment are as
follows:
o Sports towels
o Specialty nonwoven for sports shoes
o Artificial grass
o E-Textiles,
o Smart Textiles and
o 3D printing segments
o Hydro cotton
 Most of the fibres required for Sportech segment are imported and there is a need to provide
incentives to entrepreneurs so that import substitution can be achieved by India.
 High business potential exists in following areas of Sportech segment:

o Wearable electronics-based smart textiles
o Coated textile fabrics which have high export potential

 Nonwoven technology appears to be gaining traction among Agrotech products.
 The emerging products in Agrotech segment are as follows:

o Crop cover
o Shade net (especially low GSM shade net)
o Anti-insect net
o Fish net
o TFO twister and multifilament based knotless fishnet (international market)
o Scaffolding nets
o Hail nets
o Crop protection nets
o Bird net
o Fog catcher nets
o Woven sacks & fabrics
 The major use of geotextiles is in landfills, mining and erosion and landslide control. Emerging
geosynthetic products in Geotech are as follows:
o Geo-grid
o Geostrap
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o Geonet
o Geomembrane
o Geocells
o Nonwoven geotextiles
o Carpet tiles for geotextile application
o Glass fibre composite based Geotech products
o Geotextile underlay for paver blocks
o Geotextile wall planters for vertical gardens
o Pondliner
 There is a lot of business interest in the Oekotech segment but it still is in the nascent stages.

 Emerging products and technologies in Indutech are as follows:
o Nanofibre membrane
o Lamination and coating technologies
o Filtration technologies
o Conveyor belts and hoses
o Ropes
o Slings
o Webbings, etc.
o Carbon fibre-based composites
 Emerging products and technologies in Mobiltech are as follows:

o Tyre cords
o Roof linings
o Filtration cloth
o Seat covers
o Seat belts
o Airbags
o Knitted fabric for seating fabric
o PVC coated textiles for seating
o Nonwovens
o Woven fabric is being replaced with knitted fabric
o PVC coated textile
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 Trends in Mobiltech suggest towards use of:

o More compostable, degradable, biodegradable, and recyclable polymers.
o Products with single polymers are becoming more popular as they render it more recyclable.
o Flex-based food storage products with antibacterial activity
8.4 Impediments to growth for Technical

Textiles in India
Workshop 3: Protech
 There appears to be general lack of awareness among common people about safe practices and
safety equipment.
 There is a lack of adequate legislation for mandatory usage of protective clothing in industries.
 There is a gross absence of stringent standards and regulation for safety which is a major weaknesses
of the Indian protective textile sector.
 Lack of quality benchmarking for the development and export of technical textile products is a major
impediment for India’s Protech products.
 Lack of a research-based standardisation process is a major drawback for the Indian technical textile
sector and is an impediment to growth.
 Major threat formal players emanates from numerous unorganized players who manufacture Meditech
products in poor hygiene condition, with very low-quality and absence of adherence to standards. Fast
and speedy implementation of new Medical Device Rule (MDR) of 2017 which describes removing
medical devices from drugs and cosmetic act is needed. Standardization of medical textile products is
crucial to stop the mushrooming of unorganised players with low standard products. Fluctuating
cotton prices, pollution issues in processing, bioburden in cotton fibre, low sterilization capacity, etc.
are threats of the medical textile industry.
 Lack of adequate standards for products and low awareness of end application of medical textiles is a
major hurdle to Meditech.
 A commitment of saving almost twice on EPG scheme of machine import is a major impetus to the
manufacture of medical textile products.
 At present, the import duty on raw material and finished diapers is the same which has consequently
led to import of inferior quality products in Indian medical textile market.
 Lack of testing facilities of Meditech products has led domination of inferior quality products in the
market.
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 Inverted duty structure is dominant in the textile supply chain and has negative influence on the cost
of products that ultimately affects their consumption negatively.
 Lack of good converters of technical textile finished products in Indian textile supply chain impacts
Clothtech negatively.
 Absence of product standards, less availability of garmenting facilities in India and multiple GST
structures for textile products were mentioned as key challenges for Clothtech segment.
 Lack of BIS standards, certified labs and lack of product standards serve as major impediments in the
growth of Clothtech and Hometech.

 Limited consumption of agrotech products in the agriculture sector is the biggest challenge. The
Agrotech segment is dominated by SME players and holds a very small stake in the whole technical
textile domain. Development of this sector is slow. Lack of big players, less acceptance of advanced
technology and low cost of conversion are the major limitations in the growth of this segment.
 Geosynthetics is in nascent stage in India. The lack of awareness regarding the use such products is a
major impediment to the growth of Geotech and Oekotech.
 Lack of standardization of Agrotech products is a major challenge in this segment. Till the technical
advisory and monitory committee (TMAC) set up by the Ministry Textiles to establish BIS standards of
Agrotech products gives its report, the lack of standards will continue to be an impediment.
 Major gaps for Geotech and Oekotech segments include low consumer confidence, absence of
standards and usage guidelines and resistant end user adoption.
 A major issue of low confidence is due to poor quality of geosynthetics being used for construction. It
is leading to issues and discouraging users.
 On end user adoption of Geotech and Oekotech products, the major hurdle is to get approvals for
usage of products or change of designs or change of scope, financial approvals in Engineering,
Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts, provision in Schedule of Rates (SORs) / Demand
signal repository (DSRs) for tendering purposes.
 Lack of a centralized system for product certification and quality assurance was addressed as a major
technological gap for this sector.
 lack of awareness among the approving authorities for Geosynthetics uses in infrastructure was
spoken of as another major impediment.
 Lack of standards and codes of Geotech and Agrotech products leads to less end user adaptation of
these products. In this regard two suggestions were made - namely, the Government should mandate
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the usage of these products in various departments of government and a common platform should be
created to access the information regarding geotextile products across all projects in the country.
 Product certification and application-based testing Institute with advanced research amenities is an
immediate necessity for the industry. In this context lack of tuning between a product designer,
geotechnical expert, and structural engineer to frame an appropriate specification of a geotextile
product marked a key hindrance in development of this segment.
 Guidelines of the ATUFs scheme are very stringent and not clear to new industrialists.
 Longer user trial periods for Geotech products discourage engineers to contribute more to the
advancement of this sector.
 In many countries abroad, geotextile sells as a product with proper specification, however in India it is
sold as a solution of civil construction. Hence it becomes difficult for textile manufacturers to convince
intra-departmental authorities to adopt geotextile. India should take necessary steps to alter the
product specification part in various public departments.
 Mindset of the Indian user to utilise the benefits of geotextile in some applications is lacking.

 In India, the major challenge is to develop a product according to standards with consistent quality.
 The minimum completion time of highly developed products in mobiltech segment is four to five
years, which requires long-term investment which will need support for government.
 Lack of international level testing facility (Branded international facility) is one of the hurdles against
the development of this industry.
 Lack of reliability in outsourcing partners in the Indian Mobiltech industry is another major concern for
manufacturers.
8.5 Recommendations proposed by participants

of the workshops
Workshop 3: Protech
 Government should provide encouragement and funding to start-up innovators. Industry collaboration
with IITs and other academic institutes involved with technical textiles training and education must be
fostered.
 Adaptation of global standards as per Indian environment must be done at the earliest.
 Government should mandate the use of protective textiles by institutional consumers (road transport
and highways, rail, hospitals, construction, etc.) and prepare a comprehensive national database of
suppliers of technical textiles.
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 Government must strengthen the regulations pertaining to industrial safety. It will give a boost to the
demand for protective textile products.
 Collaboration of Indian companies with global leaders in production of high-performance fibres should
be encouraged for ensuring reliability of supply and for promoting domestic manufacture in the long
run.
 The Government must emphasise upon and encourage IITs and other technical institutes to include a
specialised academic programme on technical textiles.
 There should be zero import duty on raw materials and machines for the growth of domestic and
export markets of medical textiles.
 Government should facilitate easy and effective interactions between Multinational Corporations and
Indian entrepreneurs who are involved with the technical textile sector.
 Government must issue formal notification of mandatory and appropriate use of appropriate medical
textile products.
 Global level standardization of medical textile products should be taken up by the Government and
industry.
 Government should consider creating and then leasing out manufacturing facilities to new
entrepreneurs to as part of its efforts to improve infrastructure for the Indian technical textile
industry.
 Since proper disposal mechanism have a greater importance for medical textiles. The use of
biodegradable eco-friendly polymers and fibres in medical textile products should be encouraged.
 In the medical textile field, protection of IPR policy is a major concern for research and development
teams. Proper protection of product patents will lead to improvement in quality of products in the
market.
 ISI mark should be made mandatory for all the products procured against government tenders as this
will bring in good quality of products in the market.
 Government must provide encouragement for Indian companies to invest in R&D to introduce new
products and technologies in the market.
 The Government of India should establish and expand the testing facility of various technical textile
products.
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 Multiple GST is an area of acute concern for industrialists in technical textiles industry. The
government should propose a single GST to promote transparency and efficiency in the system.
 More contribution of Centre of Excellence in advancement of technology in technical textile field is

needed and the governance of COEs should be monitored properly.
 A common centralised database should be established from where any stakeholder can access data on
various innovations in technical textiles.
 The government should alter the inverted duty structure in the textile supply chain which will be a
path-breaking move for the development of technical textile industry.

 Government must establish a common platform for accessing information regarding Geotextile
products across all projects in the country so as to improve standardisation of procured products.
 Government should provide subsidies on procurement of good quality refurbished branded machines
to reduce the burden of initial heavy capital for manufacturers .
 Government should propagate encourage manufacture of technical textile machines in India through a
multi-pronged approach.
 One of the biggest gaps in India is the lack of alignment among product designers, geotechnical
experts, and structural engineers in suggesting a appropriate specification of geotextile products.
This should be remdied with Government specifying institutional mechanism.
 A very important ground level problem in Geotech and Agrotech is the lack of user trials for any new
products. Due to longer trial periods follow up is generally poor and most of the effort is in vain. It is
suggested that regional trials with joint research ventures by manufacturers and regional authorities
can be a worthwhile idea to pursue.
 India must consider adopting some of the best practices of Government-industry partnerships from
across the world that were discussed during the workshops. For example, The Every Day Counts
(EDC) scheme of the US Department of Transportation where the department adopts existing and
new technologies and accelerates their usage in public projects.
 Collaboration between Government and research agencies to deliver efficient product trials was also
recommended during the workshops.
 Establish a quality assurance program where an independent body should audit manufacturing
practices, quality control processes, raw materials used etc. and issue the approvals. In this context
the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP) practiced by USA and British Board
of Agreement practices in the UK were mentioned.
 A major hurdle on end user adoption in Geotech and Oekotech is of getting approvals of higher
authorities for usage of products or change of designs or change of scope, financial approvals in
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, provision in Schedule of Rates (SORs) /
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Demand signal repository (DSRs) for tendering purposes. Circulars and instructions from ministries
must be issued to mention such guidelines which can permit field engineers to be flexible and change
tenders and design processes under certain specific conditions.
 Mandatory usage of usage of geosynthetics should be encouraged to provide savings in natural

resources, improve construction time and quality and save costs. In this context an example was
given of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in India where in 15% (or as decided by
ministry) of area has to be constructed by mandatory usage of geosynthetics.
 In the Geotech and Oekotech segment, recommendation was made about strengthening and
empowering CoEs or IITs to act a s authority to vet the design changes or change of scope in projects
and to guide the project staff in implementing the same.
 Help must be taken by Government of India from agencies like Conformitè Europëenne (CE), British
Board of Agrément (BBA), and National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP) to
improve product and system certification for Geotech and Oekotech.
 In the textile industry inverted GST duty structure is present where all the raw materials have a GST
value of 18% whereas the end-product retains 5-12% GST. This increases working capital
requirement for the manufacturer. A common input and output GST model must be implemented as it
might prove to be more useful for the growth of this industry.

 It was recommended that India needs to create a brand of Indian testing facility. BIS product
standards are outdated and incompatible with international standards. It was suggested that BIS
should come out with a revision of Indian standards every three years.
 India needs to set up international level testing labs which will speed up the product development
process.
 Existing skill development centers should also be equipped for latest technology needed for the
technical textile industry.
 Joint ventures with companies of developed countries should be promoted as those will prompt more
investment in the market.
 Technology upgradation is a major concern in this industry. In this context, R&D support from
institutes and COEs to the industry should be encouraged as these will strengthen innovative solutions
for efficient processes and quality products at economic prices.
 Universities and Institutions should be supported to add technical textile courses and programmes in
their curriculum.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Business Leaders Cite Lack of Raw Materials as Key Challenge

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Business Leaders Cite Lack of Raw Materials as Key Challenge

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Conclusions from Business

1. Resource availability for Technical Textiles

2. Markets and Marketing of Technical Textiles

3. Future developments expected in Technical Textiles

4. Impediments to growth for Technical Textiles in India

8.1 Resource availability for Technical Textiles

Workshop 5: Clothtech, Hometech and Sportech

 More collaboration among industry-institute and research organisations that need to be established

Workshop 6: Agrotech, Geotech and Oekotech

Workshop 7: Buildtech, Indutech, Mobiltech and Packtech

8.2 Markets and Marketing of Technical Textiles

o Existence of complete textile value chain

 The rapid rise in demand is leading to a significant innovation in this segment.

Workshop 5: Clothtech, Hometech and Sportech

Workshop 6: Agrotech, Geotech and Oekotech

Workshop 7: Buildtech, Indutech, Mobiltech and Packtech

8.3 Future developments expected in Technical

o Artificially intelligent fabrics, and

Workshop 5: Clothtech, Hometech and Sportech

 High business potential exists in following areas of Sportech segment:

Workshop 6: Agrotech, Geotech and Oekotech

 The emerging products in Agrotech segment are as follows:

Workshop 7: Buildtech, Indutech, Mobiltech and Packtech

 Emerging products and technologies in Mobiltech are as follows:

 Trends in Mobiltech suggest towards use of:

8.4 Impediments to growth for Technical

Workshop 5: Clothtech, Hometech and Sportech

Workshop 6: Agrotech, Geotech and Oekotech

Workshop 7: Buildtech, Indutech, Mobiltech and Packtech

8.5 Recommendations proposed by participants

Workshop 5: Clothtech, Hometech and Sportech

 More contribution of Centre of Excellence in advancement of technology in technical textile field is

Workshop 6: Agrotech, Geotech and Oekotech

 Mandatory usage of usage of geosynthetics should be encouraged to provide savings in natural

Workshop 7: Buildtech, Indutech, Mobiltech and Packtech

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