India’s push to scale up its technical textiles sector has gathered strong momentum under the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), launched in 2020 with a dedicated outlay of ₹1,480 crore. The mission has emerged as a cornerstone initiative for strengthening domestic capabilities in high-value fibre innovation, advanced materials, and next-generation textile technologies.
R&D at the Core of India’s Technical Textiles Ambition
Under Component-I of NTTM, the government is backing research and innovation across specialty fibres—carbon, aramid, nylon, UHMWPE, composites—and advanced segments like geotextiles, agro-textiles, medical textiles and smart textiles. So far, 168 projects have been approved, including 79 dedicated R&D projects valued at ₹247 crore. These span a wide spectrum of developments across speciality fibres, geotextiles, agro-textiles and smart functional fabrics, forming the backbone of the mission’s technological roadmap.
The central aim of these R&D efforts is to build a robust domestic manufacturing ecosystem, expand the national technical textiles market, reduce import reliance and generate skilled employment. The mission’s broad mandate covers innovation-led product development, indigenization of machinery, industry awareness, skilling programmes, and export expansion.
Fueling Innovation & Start-up Growth
To energize entrepreneurship in emerging applications, the mission includes the “Grant for Research and Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT)” scheme. This initiative supports young innovators and startups working on value-added and locally manufactured technical textile solutions—helping unlock new livelihood opportunities and accelerating commercialization of cutting-edge ideas.
Skill development is another priority. Through structured training programmes across all 12 technical textile segments, NTTM is nurturing a new generation of professionals—from workers and students to industry leaders. Furthermore, the mission’s outreach includes conferences, workshops, Chintan Shivirs, and national webinars, fostering deeper engagement among manufacturers, researchers and users while promoting wider adoption of technical textiles across sectors.
Overview of R&D Priorities Under NTTM
Speciality Fibres
Projects in this segment focus on advanced fibre systems—including carbon, nanofibre, UHMWPE, aramid, glass and natural fibres. These innovations aim at applications in defence, energy storage, healthcare, smart materials and sustainability-focused solutions.
Geotextiles
R&D efforts target high-performance geotextiles, geogrids and geocomposites made from natural fibres, recycled materials and advanced polymers. Applications span pavements, railways, drainage, erosion control and landslide mitigation, with a strong emphasis on sustainable ground-improvement and enhanced geosynthetic systems.
Agro-Textiles
This segment addresses sustainable farming needs through natural-fibre and agri-waste-based materials for mulching, crop protection, seed preservation and packaging. Projects also explore smart and energy-responsive textiles designed to boost agricultural productivity.
Smart Textiles
Projects in this domain cover a wide array of next-gen materials—from photonic fabrics, conductive fibres and wearable electronics to perovskite solar textiles and antenna-integrated fabrics. Developments also extend to composites for space applications, gamma-shielding clothing, anti-counterfeiting technologies and advanced piezoelectric or flexoelectric textiles.
The information was shared by Minister of State for Textiles Shri Pabitra Margherita in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.