Technical textiles are ‘textile materials and products manufactured primarily for their technical performance and functional properties rather than their aesthetic or decorative characteristics. Latest survey on market projections of technical textiles upto 2010 reveal that this value will reach US $ 126 billion by 2010.
India with its vast textile base, has the potential to grab a substantial share of the world market in the next few years time. Considering this emerging field, Government of India (GOI) has taken various measures to promote technical textiles and facilitate the growth and expansion of Technical Textiles. With this viewpoint, the GOI has decided to establish various Centres of Excellence (COEs) for fulfillment of specific objectives in different segments of Technical Textiles.
The COE for Agrotextiles has been assigned to The Synthetic and Art Silk Mills’ Research Association (SASMIRA) as the lead agency jointly with other Agencies viz., The Man-made Textiles Research Association (MANTRA), Surat and Navsari Agricultural University (NAU), Navsari with Dept of Textile Technology, IIT, New Delhi as knowledge partner.