Getting good response for technical textile units: Commissioner

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is the leader in traditional textiles as the Tirupur-Coimbatore belt has one of the largest clusters of garment units across the country, but as far as technical textiles are concerned, Tamil Nadu is still lagging and production of technical textiles has not kicked off. However, Commissioner of Textiles M Vallalar, in an exclusive interview to DT Next, said that Tamil Nadu is all set to become the leader in production of technical textiles and they will soon occupy all walks of life.

How are technical textiles different from traditional textiles? What are their uses?

•Unlike traditional textiles, technical textiles have some functionality attached to them. There is some amount of research done for every technical textile and when compared to traditional textiles technical textiles are stronger and rigid. For instance, in packaging technical textiles have improved the durability of the materials used for packing and they are termed Packtech. They are used extensively in the medical field, automobiles, sports, industries and even in laying durable roads. They are set to occupy every walk of our life and will become a routine part of our life.

What are the areas of technical textiles Tamil Nadu is focusing on?

•Our Chief Minister MK Stalin and the department are giving extensive attention to technical textiles. As of now, we are focusing on medical, automobile, protech, which includes manufacturing bulletproof jackets, fire retardant apparels, biological and chemical protective suits.

How is the support for technical textiles? Are people coming forward for setting up units for manufacturing technical textiles?

•There are many who are interested in setting up technical textiles units and the government is of huge support for the scheme. Under the mini textile parks scheme, the state government is providing a subsidy of 50 per cent of Rs 2.5 crore, whichever is less, and for setting up a unit in the mini textile parks there should be a minimum of three units. So far, we have received 67 proposals for setting up technical textiles units in the mini textile parks and among them 40 are from Karur district alone. In the international conference on technical textiles planned by the state government towards the end of November, we have planned to achieve the target of signing MoUs with at least 100 manufacturers.

There is a complaint that traditional textiles pollute water and the surrounding environment. How about technical textiles?

•Unlike traditional textiles, dying is not involved and so there will be no water pollution. Even air pollution can be arrested by using advanced technologies. The technical textiles plant is environmentally friendly.