23 September 2009 – Geotextiles will have a business potential of Rs. 1,260 crore in the 21,000 km national highway upgrades being carried out by the government, said Shri Bhupendra Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles today. The country has a road network of 33 lakh kilometre, of which National Highways, State Highways and Expressways account for 70,548 km, 131,98 km and 200 km, respectively. Under the Bharat Nirman component of Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) 24,000 km of roads will be laid in 2009-10 and Geotech will have a market potential Rs. 868 crore, said Joint Secretary (Textiles). The Government will spend US $78.5 billion for the development of road infrastructure during the XIth Five Year Plan Period, and the Technical Textiles Industry shall be able to exploit the potential, said Shri Bhupendra Singh.
Shri Sudripta Roy, Secretary General, International Jute Study Group (IJSG), said there is a need to maintain the jute supply chain, if the industry has to exploit the opportunity which are been thrown up by increased global awareness about environmental sustainability. Globally, there has been exponential increase in the demand for jute shopping bags, but the industry is constrained with supply bottlenecks and there is an urgent need for the industry to gear its production by installing new machinery, improve work culture and streamline the marketing channels, said Shri Roy.
The Ministry of Road Transport has accepted that geotech material can be used in the construction of highways; however, it is for industry to convince the developer about the cost effectiveness and availability of desired material with specified properties and time line, said Shri C. Kandasamy, Chief Engineer (Standard & Research-Roads), Ministry of Roads & Highways.
Technical Textiles products used in geotechnical applications pertaining to civil engineering like roads, pavements, slope stabilization and embankment protection, rail-track bed stabilization, etc., are generically called geotextiles. Some of the examples of Geotech products are geogrids, geonets, geomembranes and geocomposites, etc.
[Editor’s note: In most of the word, "geosynthetics" is the umbrella term under which geogrids, geotextiles, geonets, geomembranes and other material types fall. In India, the term "geotextiles" is often used to refer to all geosynthetics and even a number of non-polymeric products.]
Globally, it has been proved that Geotech is a very cost effective and versatile material for ground modification and stabilization. It helps in providing long life to roads and highways and with less maintenance cost. However, in India the use of these materials remains inadequate and far below the potential despite the fact that India has the second largest road network in the world. A recent workshop sensitized the stakeholders about myriad applications of technical textiles in agriculture and environmental engineering and to create awareness amongst the stakeholders about the benefits of these items. The Workshop also focused on various rules/legislations that need to be amended to facilitate the use of these textiles in various applications.
SOURCE: Press Information Bureau
