BIG Push to Technical Textiles Sector

With a view to boost technical textiles sector in the country, the Government has approved the proposal for creation of National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) for a period of 4 years (2020-21 to 2023-24) with an outlay of Rs.1480 crores. The NTTM will (i) focus on research and innovation and indigenous development of specialty fibres from Carbon, Nylon-66, Glass, Aramid and other high technology polymers; increase application of geo-textiles, agro-textiles, medical textiles, protective textiles and other segments of technical textiles in various application areas (ii) promote awareness amongst users, bring in large scale investments, and encourage high-end technical textiles products (iii) enhance India’s exports of technical textiles by 2024 through focused attention on highest traded products (iv) create a robust human resources in the country, both through specialized higher education and skill development of technical manpower of the country.

Besides, in order to boost a rapid growth of the technical textile segment in the country, the government has also taken following major initiatives:-

i. With a view to derive the benefits of technical textiles in various fields of applications, currently Ninety Two (92) application areas have been identified for mandatory use across Ten Central Ministries/Departments. So far, mandatory use notifications have been issued for 68 (sixty eight) applications.

ii. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has developed standards for 377 technical textiles products.

iii. On request from the Industry, Ministry of Textiles has included Six (6) additional courses for technical textiles in its Skill Development Programme (called Samarth).

iv. IIT Delhi is conducting fresh baseline survey on technical textiles sector.

v. The Ministry has issued Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order dated 23.10.2019, prescribing Minimum Local Purchase Content for Technical textiles items in 10 segments for government procurement.

vi. Further, in order to boost the technical textile sector in the country, Cabinet has approved Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in the 10 key sectors for enhancing India’s manufacturing capabilities and enhancing exports – Atmanirbhar Bharat. Textiles products: MMF segment and technical textiles have been included among 10 key sectors with approved financial outlay of Rs.10,683 crore over a five year period for these products. This scheme will help Indian firms to grow into global champions.

To promote and develop handloom sector across the country, Ministry of Textiles is implementing following schemes, under which financial assistance is provided to the eligible handloom agencies/weavers etc. for raw materials, purchase of looms and accessories, design innovation, product diversification, infrastructure development, skill upgradation, lighting units, marketing of handloom products in domestic as well as overseas markets and loan at concessional rates: -

1. National Handloom Development Programme (NHDP)

i. Block Level Clusters

ii. Weavers’ MUDRA Scheme

iii. Handloom Marketing Assistance

2. Comprehensive Handloom Cluster Development Scheme (CHCDS)

3. Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme (HWCWS)

4. Yarn Supply Scheme (YSS)

Apart from implementation of above schemes, following new initiatives have also been taken by the Ministry of Textiles for the benefit of handloom weavers: -

i. The handloom weavers and exporters from different corners of the country were connected virtually with international market.

ii. Social media campaigns are also organized in partnership with all stakeholders to promote handloom and handicraft legacy of India to ensure people’s support for the community. One such campaign #Vocal4handmade was launched on the 6^th National Handloom Day held on 7^th August 2020.

iii. Over 534 Chaupals were organized in various States to educate the handloom workers to avail benefits of various handloom schemes for their welfare and socio-economic development.

iv. To promote e-marketing of handloom products, 23 e-commerce entities have been engaged for online marketing of handloom products.

v. To support the handloom and handicraft sectors and to enable wider market for handloom weavers/artisans/producers, 1.5 lakh handloom weavers/entities have been on-boarded on Government e-Marketplace (GeM) for supply of their products to Government Departments.

vi. To enhance productivity and marketing capabilities and ensure higher returns for handloom workers through collective efforts and pooling of resources, 117 handloom producer companies have been formed in different States.

vii. Design Resource Centres have been set up in Weavers’ Service Centres (WSCs) at Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati in collaboration with National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) with the intent to build and create design-oriented excellence in the handloom sector and to facilitate weavers, exporters, manufacturers and designers in creating new designs and to take benefit of erstwhile-created designs.

This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani in Rajya Sabha on 18 March 2021.