National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM)

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the setting up of the National Technical Textiles Mission with an aim to make India a leader of technical textiles globally.

In this article, we shall discuss at length the objectives of the mission along with its components and structure. All government and UPSC exam aspirants must carefully go through the various features of the mission. 

National Technical Textiles Mission [UPSC Notes]:-Download PDF Here

Aspirants preparing for the upcoming IAS Exam can expect questions based on the same in the GS 2 and GS 3 paper under the Government policies, growth, and development issues. Thus, candidates must prepare themselves accordingly. 

To know the other policies and initiatives by the Union Cabinet for the development of the country, candidates can visit the List of Government Schemes in India page. 

About the National Technical Textiles Mission

Some important facts about the National Technical Textiles Mission have been discussed below:

• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the setting up of this mission
• The Mission would have a four year implementation period from FY 2020-21 to 2023-24
• A total outlay of Rs 1480 Crore has been finalised by the authorities for this mission
• A Mission Directorate will be operational in the Ministry of Textiles
• Mr Nihar Ranjan Dash has been appointed the Mission Coordinator for the National Technical Textiles Mission by the President of India
• The mission has been set up in lines with the Make in India initiative by the Government of the country

Also, read UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis – December 5, 2020

Technical Textiles – A Brief Background

To understand the significance of introducing a mission to promote technical textiles, it is important for one to understand what are technical textiles.

Technical Textiles are a futuristic and nice segment of textiles, which are used for various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear, health on one end to bulletproof jacket, fireproof jackets, high altitude combat gear and space applications on another end of the spectrum.

What are the Technical Textiles?

Technical textiles are textiles materials and products manufactured primarily for technical performance and functional properties rather than aesthetic characteristics. India shares nearly 6% of world market size of 250 Billion USD.

There are 12 broad categories under which the Techincal textiles can be divided, depending upon their application areas:

1. Agrotech
2. Buildtech
3. Clothtech
4. Geotech
5. Hometech
6. Indutech
7. Mobiltech
8. Meditech
9. Protech
10. Sportstech
11. Oekotech
12. Packtech

All Government exam aspirants must also read more about the SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries) initiative. 

Objectives of the National Technical Textiles Mission

Given below are the basic aims and objectives behind setting up an independent mission for the development of technical textiles in India:

• The main aim is to get India the highest position in Technical Textiles at a global level
• This mission also aims at improving the penetration level of the technical textiles in the country. It must also be noted that the penetration level of technical textiles is low in India at 5-10%, against 30-70% in advanced countries. 
• The authorities aim at increasing the global market for Indian technical textiles
• To simplify the objectives of the mission, it has been divided into four component as well
• The Mission will focus on the usage of technical textiles in various flagship missions, programmes of the country including strategic sectors

Also, read Making India a Manufacturing Hub: RSTV- Big Picture

Components of National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM)

Discussed below are the four components of NTTM.

• Component – l [Research, Innovation and Development]
  • It has an outlay of Rs.1000 crores
  • Two aspects will be promoted through this component:
    • Fundamental research at fiber level aiming at path-breaking technological products in Carbon Fibre, Aramid Fibre, Nylon Fiber, and Composites
    • Application-based research in geo-textiles, agro-textiles, medical textiles, mobile textiles and sports textiles and development of bio­degradable technical textiles
  • Fundamental research will be conducted at CSIR laboratories, IIT, and other scientific/industrial/academic laboratories of repute
  • Application-based research will be conducted at CSIR, IIT, RDSO, ICAR, DRDO, NAL, etc.
• Component – II [Promotion and Market Development]
  • An average growth rate of 15 to 20% per annum will be targeted to take the level of domestic market size to 40-50 Billion USD by the year 2024
  • The medium of market development, market promotion, international technical collaborations, investment promotions, etc. will be utilised for the promotion and development of this mission
• Component – III [Export Promotion]
  • The current value of the export promotion of technical textiles is approximately Rs.14000 Crore, per annum
  • Through this component, the mission aims at increasing it to Rs.20000 Crore by 2021-22
  • It also aims at ensuring a 10% increase in the average growth of exports per year up to 2023-24
• Component – IV [Education, Training, Skill Development]
  • To meet the technologically challenging and fast-growing technical textiles segment, technical education at engineering level will be promoted through this mission
  • Highly skilled manpower will be created to meeting the requirement of the mission

With this four-year plan, the Government of India plans to promote and develop the Indian Technical Textiles manifolds, which will automatically affect the economic growth of the country.

National Technical Textiles Mission [UPSC Notes]:-Download PDF Here

Furthermore, IAS aspirants can also check the detailed UPSC Syllabus for the Prelims and Mains examination for the various subjects at the linked article. 

To know more about the latest competitive exam updates, study material, preparation tips and notes, candidates can turn to BYJU’S for expert assistance.