The Ministry of Textiles has unveiled an expanded roadmap under the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) with a total investment target of ₹25,000 crore by 2027, aiming to position India among the top five global producers of technical textiles.
Technical textiles — which include specialised fabrics used in healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure, defence, automotive and sports applications — currently represent only 5% of India's total textile output despite commanding significantly higher margins than conventional textiles.
The NTTM Phase II expansion will focus on four priority areas: agro-textiles (geo-textiles and crop protection fabrics), medical textiles (surgical drapes, wound care, protective apparel), protective textiles (defence, firefighting and industrial safety), and mobiltech textiles (automotive and aerospace applications).
A new cluster of technical textile parks is proposed in states with strong existing textile infrastructure, including Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra. Each park will receive central assistance of up to ₹500 crore for common infrastructure development.
"India imports nearly ₹18,000 crore worth of technical textiles annually that we have the capability to produce domestically. The NTTM is designed to reverse that gap," said the Textiles Secretary at the mission's relaunch event.
The mission will also fund research and development through a dedicated corpus at IIT Chennai, IIT Delhi and the Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA), with a focus on bio-degradable and smart textiles.
Industry leaders from leading technical textile manufacturers have committed to co-investment of approximately ₹12,000 crore alongside the government's ₹13,000 crore public funding.