Textile commissioner Mrs Kiran Soni Gupta inaugurated the three-day Techtextil India exhibition for the technical textiles and non-woven industry in Mumbai today.

Addressing the media and industry at the inauguration of this prime business event which hosts more than 150 exhibitors from India and abroad, Mrs Kiran Soni Gupta said: Technical Textile is at a promising growth stage and expected to grow at a rate of 20 per cent annually to touch USD 30 billion over the the next five years. ” Mrs. Soni emphasised on the high-potential sectors within the technical textiles industry in India namely, Medical (Medtech), Geo-Textiles (Geotech), Protective Textiles (Protech) & Agricultural Textiles (Agrotech) and factors of ease of doing business and and technology integration that can further propel growth in technical textiles sector. She also said that the National Textile Policy now in its final draft will be announced soon.

Also present at the Inauguration was Mr. Michael Siebert, Counsel General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mumbai who expressed delight over the strong German presence at Techtextil India 2015. He added German Chancellor is scheduled to meet the Indian Prime Minister early next month to dicuss key aspects that can intensify indo-german co-orperation.

Also seen at the inauguration were Mr. Pramod Khosla, Chairman ITTA & CMD Khosla Profil Pvt Ltd, Dr Anup Rakshit, Executive Director ITTA, Mr. Rakesh Bali – Sr. Vice Present & Head of Marketing – Petrochemicals, Reliance Industries and Mr. Vikas Sharan - Vice President Knitting, Synthetics, Non-Wovens & Carpets ATE Enterprises.

India has made long strides in the textiles sector with the country emerging as the second largest textile manufacturer and exporter. Having shown dexterity in both manufacturing and consumption of technical textiles, India holds tremendous potential to make an impact in the global industry in the coming decade. The exhibition which hosts more than 150 exhibitors from India, Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, UK, USA.targets the entire technical textile and nonwoven industry value chain with its 10 product groups and 12 application areas of Agrotech, Buildtech, Clothtech, Geotech, Hometech, Indutech, Medtech, Mobiltech, Oekotech, Packtech, Protech, Sporttech.

Additionally, a one-day Techtextil India Symposium on 25th September will host a series of sessions covering innovations for manufacturing sector, raw material application and developments and future market outlook. As an important platform for sector players of technical textiles and non-wovens, Techtextil India also includes a line-up of product launches and introductions by its exhibitors during the three days such as:

• Launch of one of the world’s greenest environment friendly sustainable fibers ‘Recron GreenGold’ manufactured from post-consumer waste PET bottles by Reliance

• Launch of Welspun’s Made-in-India welicate spunlace which allows raw material cost savings due to its high GSM content

• Launch of Tire Cord Direct Cablers for upto 3-Ply & high speed industrial twisters with speeds up to 250 mtrs/min suitable for applying binding twists for yarn in industrial fabrics by Alidhra Weavetech Group

• Launch of ‘Ecoperl Activ’ applied for the water repellent finishing of synthetic & natural fibres as well as their fibre blends by CHT India Pvt Ltd

• Introduction of a new air permeability tester, a model for mobile applications directly at the production line by Thymas Ltd

• Introduction of a ‘Made-in-India’ spun aramid yarn and fabric by Tex & Twist that is EN certified and matches international standards eliminating the import hassles for Indian users

• Austria-based sole manufactures, Glanzstoff Industries to showcase flame fetardant and high tenacity viscose filaments

• Belgium-based Europlasma to present its completely dry nanofics process based coating technology with the lowest environmental footprint

• SSM to showcase the Duro-TD machine bringing a new level of flexibility to rewinding/assembly winding by permitting fast product changes and quick switching of take-up tube dimensions and others