Technical textiles

Why in news?

• Centre approves creation of National Technical Textiles Mission

About Technical textiles:

• A technical textile is a textile product manufactured for non-aesthetic purposes, where function is the primary criterion.
• Technical textiles include textiles for automotive applications, medical textiles (e.g., implants), geotextiles (reinforcement of embankments), agrotextiles (textiles for crop protection), and protective clothing (e.g., bulletproof vests, and spacesuits).

• The global growth rate of technical textiles is about 4% per year, which is greater than the growth rate of home and apparel textiles.
• United States of America is the world's largest producer and consumer of technical textiles having 23% share followed by Western Europe having 22 % share and China having 13%

Industry in India:

• The share of India in world technical textiles market is about 4-5%.
• The technical textiles industry in India is import-intensive- Imports stood at USD 1.4 Billion in Financial Year (FY) 2014-15.
• Among all categories, Packtech forms the largest segment and holds 42% of the market share. 

About National Technical textiles mission:

• The mission will run for a period of 4 years (2020-21 to 2023-24) with an outlay of Rs 1,480 crore.
• The distribution of funds is

(i) For Research Innovation & Development – Rs. 1000 crores

(ii) For Promotion and Market Development- Rs.50 crore

 (iii) For Education, Training and Skilling-  Rs. 400 crore

(iv) For Export Promotion – Rs.10 crores  and  Rs.20 crores for administrative expense

• The use of technical textiles in agriculture, aquaculture, dairy, poultry, etc. Jal Jivan Mission; Swachch Bharat Mission; Ayushman Bharat will be encouraged.
• A sub-component of the research will focus on development of bio degradable technical textiles materials, particularly for agro-textiles, geo-textiles and medical textiles.
• There is another important sub-component in the research activity aiming at development of indigenous machineries and process equipment for technical textiles, in order to promote 'Make In India' and enable competitiveness of the industry by way of reduced capital costs.
• Six courses on for skill development in Technical Textiles sector have been on-boarded on National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) for providing training in the sector.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding Technical Textiles:
1.They are textile products manufactured exclusively for Industrial use.
2.India has more than 20% share in Global production of technical textiles.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question