The Ministry of Textiles has cleared 20 strategic research projects worth Rs 74 crores that fall under the Flagship Programme ‘National Technical Textiles Mission.’
These projects fall in the areas of Agrotextiles, Speciality fiber, Smart textiles, Activewear textiles, Strategic application areas, Protective gear apparel and Sports textiles.
This was done under the chairmanship of Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles on Tuesday.
While addressing the group of Scientists and Technical Technologists, 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.”
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.