Technical textiles are one of the fastest growing fields across world. Technical textiles consist of all materials and products that are used primarily for technical or functional requirement rather than for any aesthetic or decorative purpose. The global market is to grow from USD 164.6 billion in 2020 to USD 222.4 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.2% from 2020 to 2025 (source: Marketsandmarkets).
The domestic consumption of India for technical textiles is hardly 5% to 10% compared to the high level of 30-40% in developed countries. The domestic market size is around Rs 2 lakh crores for the year 2020-21. Nevertheless, the domestic demand is growing in several technical textile areas in automobiles, safety, agriculture, etc. The exports in this field were nearly about Rs 14,013 crore in year 2018-19, and this have been growing above 15% for next two years.
At present, India constitutes only 4-5% of global technical textile market. To promote future growth, the Government of India has launched a National Technical Textiles Mission in 2020 (Source: Ministry of Textile), with a budget of ₹1500 crore to facilitate market development, market promotion, international collaborations, investment promotion and ‘Make in India’ initiatives. Different focus areas are identified including Specialty Fiber & Composites, Geotextiles, Agro Textiles, Sport Textiles, Medical Textiles, Protective Textiles, Mobiltech and many more. The employment in India’s technical textiles industry is projected at 14.78 lakh persons by 2024-25 (Source: Ministry of Textile).