18 March 2010 – “We foresee the role of German technology as crucial for the development of the technical textile sector in India.” With these words Mrs. Rita Menon, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles in India opened a two days Conference on German Technology for Indian Technical Textiles which was jointly organised by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) and the VDMA Textile Machinery Association.
The Conference took place on 8-9 March 2010 in New Delhi and was followed on 11-12 March 2010 in Mumbai. In New Delhi the Conference was attended by about 160 individual visitors (220 entries over two days), whereas in Mumbai 290 visitors (350 entries) in total followed the company presentations hold by 18 well-known manufacturers of textile technology. Besides attending the parallel presentations, the visitors made full use of the one-to-one meeting area and most participating companies discussed in detail the requirements from the Indian technical textile producers.
“The visitor numbers in Mumbai clearly show that Mumbai belongs to the most important textile hubs in India and Asia” stated Boris Abadjieff from VDMA after the Conference. The event in Mumbai attracted not only high-ranking business people but also representatives from the textile industry from western and southern India.
Technology lectures about technical yarns, fabrics and the finishing process
The technology lectures were divided into two sections: the production of technical yarns and fabrics on the one side and the finishing process on the other side. The visitors were in particular interested in the lectures about the production of technical yarns and fabrics. Consequently, technical textiles production in India is still at the beginning.
All in all, the VDMA-member companies from Germany and Austria presented both basic and innovative solutions for their Indian customers to start or increase technical textiles production. In principle, technical textiles production means that the function determines the finale textile product and not the design as for garments. Moreover, high-quality textile technology (machinery and components such as measuring, testing and control devices) is required along the entire textile chain to ensure that the technical textile produced fulfils the desired function and quality. The speakers also emphasized the advantages of efficient production technology in terms of manufacturing costs, energy and material use.
Among the various fields of technical textiles geotextiles, textiles for the automotive industry as well as for health care and medical applications are major growing applications in India among others. Most of the important technical textile manufacturers like Reliance Industries Ltd., GRASIM, SRF, Madura Industrial Textiles as well as Research Institutes and Centres of Excellence for technical Textiles attended the Conference.
Market development to increase the use of technical textiles
Various governmental measures have already been taken and will be initiated to facilitate the re-orientation of the Indian textile industry. During the inauguration of the conferences, both Mrs. Rita Menon, Secretary and Mr. A. B. Joshi, Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles (Government of India) mentioned the TUFS, the ongoing set-up of the four Centres of Excellences, necessary training and seminar activities and the existing reduction of certain tariffs to 5% for textile machinery imported to India.
However, from the VDMA-point of view there are still obstacles to overcome. The market development of technical textiles in India still has to be intensified. One example is the lack of regulations and standards (e.g., in the area of infrastructure, health care) which provides the ground for further use and sustainable growth of technical textiles. So far, the use of geotextiles e. g. is not mandatory in India which, if incorporated might lead to a spurt of investments in this important field of technical textiles.
VDMA and its member companies will follow up to be constantly present in India which was the second most important customer market for German Textile Machinery exports in 2009 (161 million EUR or 9.8 billion INR). Therefore, VDMA Textile Machinery Association has recently applied for an official German pavilion on the occasion of the forthcoming trade fair Texmac India 2011 (16-19 March 2011, Mumbai).
Due to the leading role of German textile technology worldwide and the innovative solutions provided by more than 120 member companies, VDMA is convinced that the German industry is the right partner to successfully support the Indian textile industry in their upgrading activities in the future.
Participating companies and their presentations
The following 18 German companies presented both basic and innovative solutions to produce technical textiles:
BRÜCKNER Trockentechnik, DILO Systems, ERKO Trützschler, Fleissner, Goller Textilmaschinen, Groz-Beckert, KARL MAYER Malimo, KARL MAYER Textilmaschinenfabrik, Lenzing Instruments, Lindauer DORNIER, MAHLO, A. Monforts Textilmaschinen, Oerlikon Barmag, Oerlikon Neumag, Oerlikon Saurer – Allma Product Line, PLEVA, Textechno, Then Maschinen.
Additional information about the event, including presenters and machinery subjects, is available here (PDF).
Learn more about VDMA at the association website:
http://www.vdma.org/wps/portal/Home/en
