13.3% growth of non-woven textile in India

Though a late entrant in the sector, India produces non-woven and technical textiles close to $8 billion, registering six to eight per cent of world production, Seshadri Ramkumar, Assistant Professor of the University, who conducted the study, said.    

The future annual growth in the sector would be more than twice the annual five to six per cent expected growth patterns in USA and Europe, he said.    

With domestic annual demand of 60,000 tonne of non-woven textile, India has to gear up to meet the huge demand, both domestic and export, within two years, he said.    

Though India has made a slow beginning in the export market, the new initiatives of the government would see the growth rate being much faster in the next two decades,he said.    

The study, in this era of globalisation, would be useful for the US textile industries to seek Joint Ventures and collaboration with the emerging market, he said adding that "by 2035, the growth rate of non-woven and technical textile industry will be exponential".    

The steps initiated by India toward establishment of four centers of excellence - medical, geotextiles, agrotextiles and protective textile, would offer business opportunities for US and European textile industries to expand and seek new markets, Ramkumar said.