Potential in techni'l textile sector yet to be tapped properly

: Lack of awareness and lesser penetration in rural areas was the reason the vast potential in the technical textile sector could not be tapped properly,a senior Textile Commissioner official said, even as major textile associations extended support for the sector's growth.
Though the sector is growing at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.8 per cent and was expected to reach Rs 1.16 lakh crore by 2018, major products are being imported, with domestic manufacturers confining to limited products, Deputy Director in Textile Commissioner's office T L Balakumar said.
He was speaking at a seminar-cum-exhibition on 'Investment Opportunities in Technical Textiles and Non-wovens,' organised by FICCI and office of the Textile Commissioner.

Balakumar said 932 of 2220 manufacturing units functional in India are registered with his office and are confined to making woven socks, tyre cord fabrics, sport shoes components, industrial textile and fishnets, with huge potential in the automotive and geotextiles remaining untapped properly.
The Government under the scheme of promoting usage of geotextiles in the North East Region had allocated Rs 427 crore for five year period from 2014-15 and Rs five crore for the rest of India, he said.
Tirupur Exporters Association President Raja M Shanmugham said the knitwear hub had been concentrating on non-aesthetic wear all these days and wanted to diversify to functional wear.

To achieve the targeted turnover of Rs one lakh crore by 2020 from the present Rs 36,000 crore, both domestic and exports, Tirupur may also tap the technical textile segment, he said and requested the Centre to start a 'Centre of Excellence' in the city.
Southern India Mills' Association chairman M Senthilkumar said that with a 11 per cent CAGR, technical textiles contributed 12 per cent of the Indian textile industry and has the potential to increase it to 20 per cent.
Being a part of textile industry, textile mills would extend any support for making investments in technical textiles and non-wovens and make it a success,he said.