Government approves 23 strategic projects under National Technical Textiles Mission

The Centre has cleared 23 strategic research projects of around Rs 60 crore in the areas of specialty fibres, sustainable textiles, geotextiles, mobiltech and sports textiles under its flagship National Technical Textiles Mission.

The projects were approved under the chairmanship of Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal on September 14, an official statement said on Friday.

"Among these 23 research projects, 12 projects of specialty fibres having application areas in agriculture, smart textiles, healthcare, strategic application, and protective gears were cleared.

"Four projects from sustainable textiles having application area in agriculture and healthcare sector were cleared. Also, five projects from geotextile, one from mobiltech, and one from sportech were cleared," the Textile Ministry stated.

Addressing scientists and technical technologists, Goyal said, "An industry and academia connect is essential for the growth of research and development in application areas of technical textiles in India. Building convergence with academicians, scientists, and researchers is the need of the hour.

The minister emphasised the importance of contributions of technology and segment experts, scientists, and academicians to the growth of India's technical textiles.

Goyal highlighted that the technological gap in the country needs to be addressed in the field of technical textiles.

Odentification of the area of research in technical textiles with industry interaction and promotional activities like conferences, exhibition, and buyer-seller meets to promote the use of technical textiles in the country and to increase the exports will be key focus areas, the minister said.