Technical Textiles in India

MILIN PATEL

- A dormant volcano prepares to erupt

Textile Engineering Dept. FACULTY OF TECH. & ENGG., M.S.UNIVERSITY OF BARODA, VADODARA.

ABSTRACT:India is rising and moving ahead with opportunities in every sector. For the past four years Indias GDP has grown up to 8%, and is assumed to remain consistent at 8-9% for coming years. According to Goldman Sachs, Indias economy will exceed the economy of Europe and Japan by 2030 and that of the US by 2045.Such a growth is possible because of the increase in household incomes and the predicted growth in agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors. Also the consumer spending level is growing over 5% per annum which has resulted in the on-going growth of organized retail sectors. Talking about the technical textile industry in India, it is said to be its initial stage as it contributes only 3% of total consumption. But, it would be wrong to say that Indias technical textile industry is still sleeping. It has woken up to the enormous potential of the technical textile sector and is predicted to grow faster in next two decades than the growth withstand by US and Europe in last three decades. This is said to become possible with the growing middle class, young and educated population. And Technical Textile would be one of the most promising sectors in this growth. And the factors like, the global economic change, strong government support, the introduction of appropriate legislation, the development of tests and standards, and widespread recognition of the need for more trained personnel, etc. also playing the valuable role in driving the industry to the farthest destination. Thus it wont be wrong to say that, Technical Textiles in India- A sleeping volcano prepares to erupt.

INTRODUCTION:Non-conventional textiles encompassing a wide spectrum of end-applications raised a debate as to whether the term industrial textiles used so far is appropriate to be continued, or it is time now that "industrial textiles" having specific meaning should include those products used as part of industrial processes or which are incorporated in some way into industrial products. Textiles used for medicine, defense, agriculture, fishing, etc. do not attach any specific meaning to "industry" but for the age-old practice of using the term "industrial textiles". Today, the term Technical Textiles has emerged as the most widely acceptable term for this expanding field of textile applications. These technical textiles are defined as textile materials and products manufactured primarily for their technical performance and functional properties rather than their aesthetic or decorative characteristics.

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With the growing dominance of technical textiles, Techtextil, Messe Frankfurt GmbH has classified technical textiles into twelve groups from the application point of view. They are as follows:

PRESENT SCENARIO OF TECHNICAL TEXTILES

Global Scenario:India is the world second largest producer of textile and garments. The textile industry in India contributes 14 % towards the GDP of USD 1.18 billion. This market itself being so big, there is tremendous potential for technical textiles as well. Currently the consumption of technical textiles in India forms only 3 % of the total world consumption; however, it is growing at a rate higher than most developed countries. The reasons for low penetration in this market are several, such as scattered production structure, inadequate research and development (R&D), lack of skilled personnel. Another major contributing factor is that there is lack of awareness about the benefits of using technical textile and therefore
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leading to low consumption. So, India still has to make its presence felt in the world technical textiles market, which earns that a highly unexploited market is waiting to be explored.

Growth Rates For Consumption Of Technical Textile:This is expected growth rates and from the graph we can easily view out that India is having 12% of growth rate consumption, which is higher than other developed countries.

Market Size Of Indian Technical Textile Industry:India is emerging as a significant player in technical textiles. The fast-paced economic growth leading to infrastructure creation as well as higher disposable income has made India a key market for the technical textile products. Moreover, the country has developed a foothold in the production of technical textiles owing to its skilled and technical manpower as well as abundant availability of raw-material. More investments are underway in this sector; as per the Ministry of Textiles, as on September 2010, 26,163 applications for technical textile projects with a project Source:- Survey of Technical Textile industry in INDIA, ECTT, IMaCS Analysis cost of US$ 14.5 billion were disbursed under Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS). Indian Technical Textile industry is estimated at Rs 41,756 Crore (2007-08), with domestic consumption of Rs. 38,835 Crore. The Industry has witnessed a significant growth of 16% from 2001-02 to 2009-10 and, is expected to grow at a rate of 11% year-on-year and reach a market size of Rs. 70,151Crore by the year (2012-13), with domestic consumption of Rs. 65,722 by the year 2012-13. The segment wise estimated market size and domestic consumption of technical textile in India in year 2007-08 and projection for the year 2012-13 are given in table below:

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Domestic Consumption (RS crore) SUB BRANCHES OF T.T Agrotech Meditech Mobiltech Packtech Sportech Buildtech Clothtech Hometech Protech Geotech Oekotech Indutech Total 2007-2008 487 1514 3161 14067 2632 1726 6570 4791 1259 185 68 2443 38835 2012-2013 709 2263 5137 25913 4358 2655 9665 8420 2021 326 160 4255 65722

Market size (Rs crore) 2007-2008 553 1669 3183 14630 2851 2157 6908 5025 1302 272 68 3206 41756 2012-2013 811 2490 5166 26753 4761 3232 10225 8748 2075 454 160 5437 70151

FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR SLOW GROWTH RATE OF TECHNICAL TEXTILE INDUSTRY AND STRATEGIES TO STIMULATE THE DEMAND
The factors responsible for the slow growth rate of technical textile industry in India can be mainly in two categories as mentioned follows: 1. Supply Side Factors 2. Demand Side Factors

1. Supply Side Factors

Deterrents for Entrepreneurs

In order to promote the production of technical textiles, the first and foremost need would be to attract entrepreneurs in the field of technical textiles. Entrepreneurs have so far kept away from the technical textiles in view of the following deterrents: (i) Technical textile and marketing aspects thereof are highly complex. Indian entrepreneurs in textiles have so far not faced this complex situation and therefore, may have genuine doubts and apprehensions about success in such ventures. (ii) Specific technical textiles demand specific raw materials, machinery and equipment, mostly to be imported and therefore, requiring huge capital towards the project cost. (iii) Technical textiles being at an evolving stage in India, generation of technology for product development and establishing specific markets with adequate volumes require huge working capital for a minimum period of 5 years before the entrepreneur could expect fruits of high value addition usually associated with technical textiles. Besides, market development will require sustained promotional efforts which need substantial investments as well as lead time.
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(iv) Developed countries have reached a point of saturation or maturity in bulk of the technical textiles and they are gearing up to enter developing countries including India in a competitive manner in globalized markets. They have the backing of overall experience in various facets of technical textiles and financial muscle, while Indian entrepreneurs have little or no experience in this direction. (v) India being a developing country, the existing norms and mandatory requirements of technical textiles for specific end applications are either outdated or non-existing. As a result, entrepreneurs have an uphill task of introducing technical textiles to end users in the Indian market.
Higher cost of raw material

Raw material in India is costly, as most of the raw material is needed to be imported from the foreign countries. Attempts should be made to use indigenously available fibers - both natural and manmade, for the technical textile products. However, it is not a deterrent to import of high performance fibers for specific products where volume is less development of polymer technology will be prohibitively costly. To exploit the traditional eco-friendly natural fibers like cotton, jute, coir, hemp,etc. by product diversification with value addition for medical textiles, agro textiles etc. The growth in industry will provide raw material at cheaper rate as the competitive market would be created.
Low investment in R&D and product innovation

Research & development, consultancy, quality management, testing and evaluation hold the key to the success of capturing a substantial share of the competitive global market of technical textiles. Accordingly substantial investment in R & D is unavoidable. Strong world class testing facilities for accurate and relevant evaluation of technical textile must be made available in India to satisfy the stringent and critical requirements of performance related products parameters in the global market. Since most of the technical textiles lose almost their total market value if any of the parameters fails to conform to the specifications, the quality control and quality culture should be of a high order to ensure "Right the First Time and Right Every Time".
Lack of skilled manpower/management

The manpower available in India is not too skilled in their technical and managerial skills. But, India having a large population labor is cheaper so the companies are attracted. Thus the people are needed to be made trained and educated.
Lack of regulatory Norms by the Government

So far, no attempt has been made by the Government to boost the market development of technical textiles. For example, there is no legislation for mandatory use of the fire retardant fabrics in high-rise buildings, in public places like exhibitions, cinema halls etc. There is no
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environmental legislation for the use of geotextiles and geo-membranes in waste containment for disposal of hazardous wastes as well as for industrial and municipal effluent treatment facilities. Technical developments need support from a regulatory framework based on scientific rationale. For example, airbag technology in automobile is identified as a future prospect in western countries because there is a regulation that new car on road must incorporate airbag technology for the safety of the driver and passengers. Similarly, infant garments in U.S. must be fire retardant, which compels production of such textiles.

2. Demand Side Factors

Consumer demand for disposable and non-disposable products

Demand for industrial products like geotextiles, packtech, medtech, agrotech... Some disciplines needs are emerging which would take care of demand factors.. E.g. operating room textiles, fire protective textiles, Industrial clothings, etc

Only way to proceed is cross this hurdle by addressing supply side issues to stimulate demand.

Conclusion
Textile contributes 14% towards GDP of US $ 1.18 billion. Technical Textile has also tremendous potential to the textile market. Currently the consumption of technical textile is 3% which is expected to be 11% . this will lead to several benefits, viz.:1. Manufacturers will become educated and they will invest in building their brands 2. Entry of large manufacturers will result in price decrease, and in providing consumers same products at cheaper rates same as mobile phone industry 3. Job opportunities will develop indirectly. 4. Increase in export will lead to increase in market value of india

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