New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved setting up a national technical textiles mission with a total outlay of Rs 1,480 crore.
The aim is to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles. The mission will have a four-year implementation period from FY 2020-21 to 2023-24.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani told reporters.
Technical textiles are material and products made primarily for their technical properties and functional requirements. They have wide usages such as agro-textiles, medical textiles, geo-textiles, protection-textiles, industrial-textiles, sports-textiles and many other usages.
Technical textiles are used for various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear and health on one end to bulletproof jacket, fireproof jackets, high altitude combat gear and space applications on another end of the spectrum.
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The Indian technical textiles segment is estimated at 16 billion dollars which is six per cent of 250 billion dollar global technical textiles market, according to an official statement.
The penetration level of technical textiles is low in India varying between 5 to 10 per cent against the level of 30 to 70 per cent in developed countries.
The mission will aim at an average growth rate of 15 to 20 per cent per annum, taking the level of domestic market size to 40 billion to 50 billion dollars by 2024 through market development, market promotion, international technical collaborations, investment promotions and 'Make in India' initiatives.
Skill development will be promoted and an adequate pool of highly skilled manpower resources will be created for meeting the need of relatively sophisticated technical textiles manufacturing units, the statement added.
(With Inputs from ANI and PTI)
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