Ministry of Textiles cleared 20 strategic research projects worth around INR 74 crores in the areas of Agrotextiles , Speciality fiber, Smart textiles, Activewear textiles, Strategic application areas Protective gear and apparel Sports textiles under the chairmanship of Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles on 1^st November 2022. These strategic research projects fall under the Flagship Programme ‘National Technical Textiles Mission.’

Among these 20 Research projects, 5 Projects of Speciality Fibres, 6 Projects of Agro-textiles, 2 Projects from Smart Textiles, 2 from protective gear and apparel, 2 from geotextiles, 1 from activewear apparels, 1 from strategic application area, 1 from sports textiles were cleared.

The Minister provided his inputs pertaining to Technical Textiles for the meeting along with the officials from different Line Ministries. Leading Indian Institutes including IITs, Government Organizations, Research Organization and Eminent Industrialists, among others participated in the session which cleared projects strategic for the development of Indian economy and a step in the direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat, especially in the field of Geotech, Industrial and Protective, Agriculture and Infrastructure.

While addressing the esteemed group of Scientists and Technical Technologists, Shri Piyush Goyal said, “Industry and Academia linkages are essential for the growth of research and development in the application areas of Technical Textiles in India. Building convergence with Academicians, Scientists and Researchers is the need of the hour.”

Shri Piyush Goyal emphasised on the importance of contributions of technology and segment experts, scientists and academicians to India’s technical textiles future growth.

Despite the prominent usage of speciality fibres in India, indigenization of the technology has still been a major challenge which needs collaborative interventions from both industry and academia, he further added.

The Minister further emphasized on robust indigenization of machineries and equipments for the technical textile sector to establish sustained and strong foothold in the global landscape.

Revision of R&D guidelines and creation of dedicated indigenous machinery and equipment development guidelines under NTTM were discussed and recommended by the committee during the meeting

To bolster the innovation and research ecosystem in technical textiles, NTTM to support ideation and prototyping R&D projects worth upto INR 50 lakhs and 100 lakhs respectively, which have clear potential to translate into commercial products and technologies.

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AD/KP