Technical Textile Scheme

Technical textile is one of the fast-growing sector and major revenue-generating field in India. Technical textile includes medical textiles, agro textiles, protection textiles, geotextiles and materials for automotive applications. There are a high consumption and export demand for technical textiles in the global market and is the major attraction for entrepreneurs. The global contribution in technical textile is about 27% whereas India’s contribution is of meagre 11%. In order to increase the production to meet the global demand and to strengthen the entrepreneurship in the country, the Ministry of Textiles has launched several Technical Textile schemes during the XI and XII Five Year Plan.

Objective of the Scheme

The primary goal of the scheme is to:

Meet the increasing demand for technical textiles in the global market
Educating entrepreneurs about the latest technologies
Encourage entrepreneurs to establish more manufacturing units to produce technical textile materials
Seek out for the profitable market opportunities in the textile industry
Increase the operational spending for the entrepreneurs and incorporate advanced technologies in the end-to-end process
Generate more employment opportunities in the textile industry
Creating awareness about technical textile industry among the prospective entrepreneurs

Textile Technical Schemes

The Ministry of Textiles has launched several beneficial schemes to flourish the textile industry and support the new and established entrepreneurs in the country. Some of the major Central Government schemes that were implemented to promote the growth and development of the Technical Textile industry are as follows,

Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS)
Scheme for Growth and Development of Technical Textiles (SGDTT)
Central Government offers concessional customs duty list of 5% for the coverage of major machinery for technical textile manufacturing
Focus Product Scheme provides duty credit scrip for the export products up to 2% of FOB value
Technology Mission on Technical Textiles (TMTT)
Focus Incubation Centres (FIC)
Scheme for promoting usage of Agro-textiles in India (excluding the North-East Region)
Scheme for promoting usage of Agro-textiles in the North-East Region
Scheme for promoting usage of Geotechnical textiles in the North-East Region
Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP)

In addition to the above schemes, the Ministry offers several other incentives and support to the entrepreneurs for the prosperity of entrepreneurship in the country. The benefits include exemptions in electricity and stamp, grants on land registrations and single-window clearance system.

Scheme for promoting usage of Agro-textiles in the North-East Region

The Ministry implemented the scheme in 2012 with a fund allocation of Rs.55 Crores.
The scheme aims to promote and strengthen the utilisation of Agrotextiles in agriculture, sericulture, horticulture and other such allied activities in North Eastern Region.
The objective of the scheme is achieved with the implementation of two major components under the scheme. They are:
- Creating awareness, setting-up of Demonstration Centers and developing capacities and
- Disbursement of Agrotextile kits in the North Eastern States

Concessional Customs Duty on Machinery

The Ministry offers a concessional rate of 5% for the Customs Duty paid on the listed machineries used for the manufacturing of the technical textile products.

Scheme for Promoting Usage of Geotextiles in North Eastern Region

The Scheme was launched during the year 2014-2015 with the total fund allocation of Rs.427 Crores.
The scheme targets to encourage the usage of geotextiles in the North-Eastern states by offering technical, advisory and financial support to the entrepreneurs.
The incentives are disbursed to the entrepreneurs to incur any cost raised for the initiation and maintenance of new and existing projects such as road and hill protection, water reservoirs and riverbank erosion control etc.
The objective of the scheme is achieved with the implementation of two major components, and they are:
- Application of geotextiles solutions including the onsite installation for the estimation of Rs.374 crores
- Conducting sensitisation activities, market studies, onsite testing, training and capacity building for the estimation of Rs.4 Crores
- The respective agencies and the State Government are the implementing agencies of the scheme

Scheme for Promoting Usage of Agrotextiles in India (excluding North-Eastern states)

The scheme was launched for a period of two years from 2015-2017 with a fund allocation of Rs.5 Crores.
The scheme was launched as a subcomponent under the Technology Mission on Technical Textiles (TMTT) to promote the utilisation of Agrotextile in all the states in India excluding North Eastern State.

Focus Product Scheme

The scheme was implemented to boost the export of products that has high export and employment potentiality.
A concessional Duty Credit scrip equivalent to 2% of FOB value is applicable for the export of 33 Technical textile products listed under the DGFTs Policy to compensate the infrastructure inadequacies and other costs involved marketing of the products.

Scheme for Growth and Development of Technical Textiles (SGDTT)

The scheme was launched in the year 2007 with a fund allocation of46.60 Crores to improve the investment in the technical textile industry.
The three major components under the scheme are as follows:
- Baseline Survey – The component targets on conducting surveys in the technical textile industry to generate proper database and information related to the industry to benefit the stakeholders in the country. The entrepreneurs can retrieve the reports from the website http://www.technotex.gov.in/.
- Awareness Campaigns – Organising awareness programmes, seminars and workshops in collaboration with the Textile Research Associations, CoEs and other Industry Associations in the country.
- Creation of Centres of Excellence (CoE) – Setting up of Centre of Excellence for thrust segments in the technical textile industry to provide infrastructure facility for testing, training, information etc., at a single location for the benefit of the technical textile manufacturers and other stakeholders.

Technology Mission on Technical Textiles (TMTT)

The scheme was launched in the year 2010 for the duration of five years with an outlay of200 Crore and with two mini-missions.

Mini Mission – I

The mission aims at building infrastructures such as standardisation, creation of common testing facilities with national and international accreditation and prototype development.

Mini Mission -II

The mission aims at offering support for the development of national and international markets for the technical textile industry. The activities include:

offering end-to-end support for the entrepreneurs such as product selection, technology definition and procurement, market assessment, commercialisation and marketing assistance
Offering financial support to conduct organisational workshops where insights about the latest technologies, international practices, market details, global scenario etc. are being shared
Incorporation of standardisation and regulatory measures
Organising fairs in the various parts of the country for the sellers to market their products to the prospective buyers and augment the marketing ability of the technical textile manufacturers
Encouraging entrepreneurs in participating in the international trade fairs to exhibit their products and strengthening the potential export opportunities
Establishing Contract Research and Development through IITs/TRAs/Textile Institutes
Setting up Focus Incubation Centres with an allocated amount of18 Crores on “plug and play” model to achieve the following objectives:
- Constructing industrial sheds with the basic machinery for the entrepreneurs to set up their production units.
- Guiding entrepreneurs for taking up new projects
- Offering the incubation centres to new entrepreneurs once the units are well established and shifted to their facilities.
- Providing a separate line of new equipment for the entrepreneurs

More information regarding the technical textile scheme can be found at Web Site: http://www.technotex.gov.in/, http://www.txcindia.gov.in/ Any scheme-related queries can be sent to the below-mentioned address for clarifications: Office of Textile Commissioner, Technical Textile Wing, 3 rd Floor, C-Wing, 48, Nistha Bhavan (New C.G.O.Building), Vithaldas Thakarsee Marg, New Marine Lines, Mumbai-400020. Tel: 022-22001050; Fax: 022-2004693