Revenues from India’s coir exports are encouraging. Coir exports during the April-January period of the current fiscal are up 5.5 per cent. Exports in the current fiscal are expected to exceed last year’s levels.

Currently, China, Korea, Japan, Germany, Canada, US are the major markets for Indian coir products. Exporters are looking at exploring the Australian market in a big way with value-added products. Coir fiber exports to China are not showing substantial increase. This has resulted in sufficient availability in the domestic market. The domestic need is approximately one lakh tons.

Steps are being taken to modernize the industry, enhance productivity and ensure uniformity of coir rolls in the export market. Leading spinning machinery manufacturers in India may be given the incentive to develop new spindles to improve productivity. Value-added coir producing units will be ensured a steady supply of raw materials.

Coir geo-textiles are used in road construction. A 18 km rural road network in Kerala has used this material. In future it may be used in the construction of national highways. This can lead to a 25 per cent saving in construction cost besides increasing the durability of road by five years.