Technical textiles
Also called: Technotex · Topic: Manufacturing Industries of India: Location and Distribution · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Technical textiles (also called Technotex) are cloth and fibre products made to do a job, not to look good or be worn as fashion. Their value comes from strength, protection or filtering. Common uses are medical goods (bandages, masks), protective gear (fire-proof suits), agriculture (shade nets) and infrastructure (geotextiles, which are fabric sheets laid in roads and embankments to hold soil in place). Making them takes more research and better machines than ordinary cloth, so they add more value per tonne of fibre. India supports the segment through the National Technical Textiles Mission, which funds research and market development. It is also one of the three segments of the PLI Scheme for Textiles (notified on 24 September 2021, outlay ₹10,683 crore). At approval, that scheme covered 10 segments or products of technical textiles.
Example
Jute mills along the Hugli river near Kolkata make jute geotextiles. These are laid on river banks and road slopes to stop soil from washing away. In this use, a traditional natural fibre becomes a technical product.
Don't confuse with
- Man-made fibre (MMF) textiles: MMF describes what the fibre is made of, such as polyester or viscose. Technical textiles are defined by what the product is used for, and they can be made from MMF or from natural fibres like jute.