TECHNOLOGY MISSION

Government of India on Thursday, January 20th launched its 5 year national mission on technical textiles to boost the growth of the nascent nonwovens and specialty textiles sector.The plan has an outlay of US $45 million (200 crores Indian rupees) and the timeframe will be from 2011-2015.

This was announced by Mrs. Rita Menon, India's Textile Secretary in an event jointly organized by the Ministry of Textiles, India and the trade body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in New Delhi.Under this mission there are two mini-missions. Mini-mission I will focus on establishing four new centers of excellence and enhance the R& D capabilities in India.

The four centers planned are nonwovens, composites, indutech and sportech.Each center will be given a maximum of US $ 5.45 million (Rupees. 24.5 crores). Mini-mission II will focus on the marketing aspects to boost both domestic consumption and export opportunities.It is hoped that funds will be disbursed soon so that projects can begin as early in April this year.

A conference has been convened for interested parties in Mumbai by the Office of Textile Commissioner on January 25th.The mission opens-up opportunities for fiber producers, consultants and machinery makers. The mission will explore all sorts of fibers such as cotton, recycled fibers and processes in developing products and will build a good knowledge base through contract R & D at different institutes.