Lok Sabha Question No. 2659 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-06
Subject: National Technical Textile Mission
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: V. Kalanidhi, Hema Malini, Kotha Prabhakar  Reddy, Locket Chatterjee, Kripanath Mallah, Nihal Chand Chauhan, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Jayanta Kumar Roy, Geetha Viswanath Vanga, Raja Amareshwara Naik, Jaskaur Meena, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Sukanta Majumdar, Bhola Singh

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2659 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.03.2020

## NATIONAL TECHNICAL TEXTILE MISSION

2659. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:

SHRIMATI HEMA MALINI:

SHRI KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY:

MS. LOCKET CHATTERJEE:

SHRI KRIPANATH MALLAH:

SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

SHRIMATI VANGA GEETHA VISWANATH:

SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

SHRIMATI JASKAUR MEENA:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री

be pleased to state :

- (a) whether the Government imports large quantity of technical textiles every year;
- (b) if so, the details thereof during the last three years, volume and value-wise;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  proposed  to  set  up  a  National  Technical  Textiles Mission  with  a  four-year  implementation  period,  if  so,  the  salient  features  and  the estimated funds for this mission;
- (d) the number of States likely to be covered and the targets fixed under this mission; and
- (e)  the  other  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  make  India  a  global  leader  in Technical Textiles manufacturing and creating huge employment opportunities particularly for women in the country?

## उत्तर

ANSWER

## वस्त्र मंत्री ( श्रीमती स्मृतत ज़ूबिन इरानी )

MINISTER OF TEXTILES

(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a)  &  (b): The  imports  and  exports  of  technical  textiles  material  during  the  last  three years including April-January 2019-20 is furnished below:

|                           |   Imports (in Crores) |   Exports (in crores) |   Net trade balance (- imports) (+ exports) (in crores) |
|---------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18                   |               11342.4 |               9412.81 |                                                -1929.62 |
| 2018-19                   |               15577.7 |              14012.8  |                                                -1564.87 |
| 2019-20 (April- December) |               12437.2 |              11864.6  |                                                 -572.58 |

With  a  view  to  boost  exports  and  reduce  imports  and  improve  the  trade  balance, government has identified and brought 207 items of technical textiles items in January 2019  in  HSN  (Harmonised  System  Nomenclature)  codes  under  Foreign  Trade  Policy within separate Appendix V.  As may be observed from the table above, this action has improved the overall trade balance in the segment in favour of the country's economy.

(c): Yes,  Sir.  The  government  has  approved  the  proposal  for  creation  of  National Technical Textiles Mission for a period of 4 years (2020-21 to 2023-24) with an outlay of Rs.1480 crores. Following are the salient features of this Mission:-

1. Component -l (Research, Innovation and Development) with outlay of Rs. 1000 Crore. This component is for promotion of both (i) fundamental research at fibre level  aiming  at  path  breaking  technological  products  in  Carbon  Fibre,  Aramid Fibre,  Nylon  Fibre,  and  Composites  and  (ii)  application  based  research  in  geotextiles,  agro-textiles,  medical  textiles,  mobile  textiles  and  sports  textiles  and development of bio-degradable technical textiles.

The  fundamental  research  activities  are  proposed  to  be  conducted  in  various Centre for Scientific &Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratories, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and other scientific/ industrial/academic laboratories of repute. Application  based  research  is  proposed  to  be  conducted  in  CSIR,  IIT,  Research Design &Standards Organisation (RDSO) of Indian Railways, Indian Council of Agricultural  Research  (ICAR),  Defence  Research  &Development  Organisation (DRDO),  National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL), Indian Road Research Institute (IRRI) and other such reputed laboratories.

## 2. Component -II (Promotion and Market Development)

This component is aimed at market development, market promotion, international technical collaborations, investment promotions and 'Make in India' initiatives.

## 3. Component - III (Export Promotion)

The component is aimed at export promotion of technical textiles enhancing from the  current  annual  value  of  approximately  Rs.14000  Crore  and  ensuring  10% average growth in exports per year upto 2023-24. An Export Promotion Council for  Technical  Textiles  is  proposed  to  be  set  up  for  effective  coordination  and promotion activities in the segment.

## 4. Component- IV (Education, Training, Skill Development)

The component is aimed at promoting technical education at higher engineering and  technology  levels  related  to  technical  textiles  and  its  application  areas covering engineering, medical, agriculture, aquaculture and dairy segments. Skill development  will  be  promoted  and  adequate  pool  of  highly  skilled  manpower resources will be created for meeting the need of relatively sophisticated technical textiles manufacturing units.

- The focus of the Mission is also for promotion of the usage of technical textiles in various  flagship  missions,  programmes  of  the  country  including  strategic  sectors. The use of technical textiles in agriculture, aquaculture, dairy, poultry, etc. Jal Jivan

Mission;  Swachch  Bharat  Mission;  Ayushman  Bharat  is  expected  to  bring  an overall improvement in cost economy, water and soil conservation, better agricultural productivity and higher income to farmers per acre of land holding in addition to promotion of manufacturing and exports activities in India. The use of geo-textiles in highways, railways and ports will also result in robust infrastructure, reduced maintenance cost and higher life cycle of the infrastructure assets.

- Promotion of innovation amongst young engineering /technology/ science standards and  graduates  is  proposed  to  be  taken  up  by  the  Mission;  alongwith  creation  of innovation and incubation centres and promotion of 'Start-Ups' and Ventures'. The research output will be reposited with a 'Trust ' with the Government for easy and assessable proliferation of the knowledge thus gained through research innovation and development activities.
- A  sub-component  of  the  research  to  focus  on  development  of  bio  degradable technical  textiles  materials,  particularly  for  agro-textiles,  geo-textiles  and  medical textiles.  It  will  also  develop  suitable  equipment  for  environmentally  sustainable disposal of used technical textiles, with emphasis on safe disposal of medical and hygiene wastes.
- 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.

(d): The mission shall work for holistic development of entire technical textile sector on pan-India basis and is not any state specific.

(e): In order to boost a rapid growth of the technical textile segment in the country, the government has taken following major initiatives:-

- (i) 207 technical textiles items have been brought under separate head in the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN) code under the Foreign Trade Policy.
- (ii) 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.
- (iii) In addition to existing 348 IS standards on technical textiles,  Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has further developed 16 more IS standards  in January 2020.
- (iv) Ministry of Textiles has included Six (6) additional courses for technical textiles in its Skill Development Programme (called Samarth).
- (v) IIT Delhi has been assigned to conduct a baseline study on technical textiles sector.
- (vi) 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.