A national conclave on technical textiles will be held in Mumbai on January 29, 2019. The release of HSN codes for technical textiles will be one of the major highlights of the conclave. Several panel discussions will be held on subjects like administrative consolidation of technical textiles, manufacturing possibilities and import substitution, benefits of standardization and global best practices, technical textile codes for New India, investment opportunity in technical textiles and research and development in technical textiles.

Technical textiles are textile material and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic and decorative characteristics. They find application not only in clothing but also in areas like agriculture, medical, infrastructure, automotive, aerospace, sports, defence and packaging.

The technical textile sector is the sunshine sector for the textile industry and is one of the fastest growing segments of the Indian economy. This sector is expected to see a double digit growth in coming years. There are around 2100 units manufacturing technical textiles in the country and most of them are concentrated in Gujarat followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Technical textiles constitute 12 to 15 per cent of the total textile value chain in India, whereas in some European countries technical textiles constitute 50 per cent of the total textile value chain.