Medicinal bandages and tapes, cotton wool, tent fabrics, nylon ropes, painting canvas, glass fibres, life jackets and certain outer garments are among the 207 products that the government will now be identified as technical textiles.
Technical textiles are functional fabrics having applications across various industries including automobiles, civil engineering and construction, agriculture, healthcare and industrial safety, among others.
They are value added textile products manufactured primarily for technical performance and multi-functional properties with less intent on aesthetics and design. The diverse range of technical textiles in India is grouped into 12 categories including AgrotechNSE 0.00 %, MeditechNSE 0.00 %, Packtech, Clothtech, Hometech, Geotech, Sportstech, Buildtech and Mobitech.
The government’s move to identify the harmonised system (HS) code for these products will aid clarity in export and import data compilation along with targeted incentives for the sector.
“The absence of clear classification of technical textiles was creating confusion. Many genuine manufacturers were not getting various incentives and subsidies as technical textiles were scattered all across the HS list and not identified as such,” said Sanjay Jain, chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry.
Official data pegs India’s technical textiles industry at Rs 1.16 lakh crore in 2017-18 and likely to reach Rs 2 lakh crore by 2020-21.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com