Punjab stands at number six in Research Projects approved under National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) to the Institutes situated in the States across the country. The state-wise data is as under: Delhi (24), Maharashtra (21), West Bengal (16), Uttar Pradesh (15), Tamil Nadu (12), Punjab (11), Telangana (10), Madhya Pradesh (6), Uttarakhand (4), Rajasthan, Jammu, and Karnataka (3 each), Assam, Puducherry, and Gujarat (2 each) and Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh (1 each).

This fact has come to the light in an answer given by the Union Minister of State for Textiles Darshana Jardosh in reply to a question about National Technical Textiles Mission asked by MP (Rajya Sabha) from Ludhiana Sanjeev Arora in the ongoing budget session of Rajya Sabha. Arora had asked about number of research projects approved under National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), total cost approved for the projects and the actual utilization; and steps taken by the government to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles.

The Minister in her reply mentioned that 137 research projects have been approved under NTTM. The total cost approved of the said projects by the Government is about Rs.474 crore. Further, the total funds released in these approved projects are about Rs.151 crore, till date.

The initiatives also include guidelines to support indigenous development of high-end machinery, equipment, tools, and testing equipments for technical textiles in India and establish indigenous platform for domestic design, development and manufacturing have been launched. General Guidelines for Enabling of Academic Institutes in Technical Textiles- for Private and Public Institutes’ have been issued to enable New Technical Textiles Degree Programme (UG & PG) and updating of existing conventional degree programs with new papers of Technical Textiles, by giving grant for upgradation of labs and training of faculty.

 

The Mission has four components. Under Component I of NTTM, Rs.1,000 crore have been earmarked for funding the research projects for fundamental and applied research in technical textiles. There is no provision under NTTM to release the funds State-wise.

The Minister further mentioned in her reply that further, in order to create an ecosystem for development and growth of technical textiles in the country, some other key initiatives have been undertaken under this Mission. Under these initiatives, 15 conferences/events have been organized so far, with an aim to expand the existing market, promote usage of technical textiles in various Government Schemes and Programs and to increase awareness among the citizens and institutions in the country.

The initiatives also include guidelines to support indigenous development of high-end machinery, equipment, tools, and testing equipments for technical textiles in India and establish indigenous platform for domestic design, development and manufacturing have been launched. General Guidelines for Enabling of Academic Institutes in Technical Textiles- for Private and Public Institutes’ have been issued to enable New Technical Textiles Degree Programme (UG & PG) and updating of existing conventional degree programs with new papers of Technical Textiles, by giving grant for upgradation of labs and training of faculty.

General Guidelines for Grant for Internship Support in Technical Textiles (GIST) have been issued to enhance the level of education and exposure to prospective Indian Engineers/Professionals in Technical Textiles. Guidelines for Grant for Research & Entrepreneurship across aspiring innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT) have been issued. These Guidelines will support young innovators/entrepreneurs in Technical Textiles to translate their prototypes to technologies/products, support commercialization of technologies developed by innovators/start-ups in Technical Textiles sector.

The Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC), now MATEXIL has been assigned the role of the Export Promotion Council for promotion of Technical Textiles.