The Centre on Tuesday approved four startups in the field of technical textiles with a grant of Rs 50 lakh each, along with new courses in various applications.

The eighth empowered programme committee (EPC) meeting under the National Technical Textiles Mission in the national capital also approved a grant of nearly Rs 20 crore to five education institutes, to introduce courses in technical textiles under the ‘General Guidelines for Enabling of Academic Institutes in Technical Textiles’.

The approved startup projects are focused on key strategic areas of composites, sustainable textiles and smart textiles.

According to the Ministry of Textiles, the approved education institutes have proposed to introduce new BTech courses in different fields and applications of technical textiles, including geotextiles, geosynthetics, composites and civil structures, etc.

Meanwhile, according to recent report, India’s textile industry is expanding at a rapid pace with the country’s textile exports projected to touch $65 billion by the financial year 2025-26.

Projections indicate that textiles production in the country for both the domestic and export markets will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 per cent to reach the $350 billion mark by 2030, said an Invest India report.

The figure has been estimated with respect to the Indian textile and apparel market size of around $165 billion in 2022, of which the domestic market constitutes $125 billion and exports account for $40 billion.

India has also emerged as the second-largest manufacturer of personal protective equipment (PPE) globally. Production of PPE had picked up during the devastating COVID-19 epidemic when India emerged as an important exporter to cater to the needs of the world market.

The textile industry is also a major employment driver, providing direct jobs to 45 million individuals and an additional 100 million in related sectors, the report added.

The government has recognised 1,40,803 entities as startups (as of June 30). More than 55 regulatory reforms have been undertaken by the government since 2016 to enhance ease of doing business, ease of raising capital and reduce compliance burden for the startup ecosystem.