The much awaited trade fair for Technical Textiles, finally opened its door on in Mumbai on October 3. Spread across 6,000 sq. mtr, the trade fair hosts 182 exhibitors from 11 countries including five international pavilions of Belgium, China, France, Germany, and Italy. Opening on a promising note, the exhibition is expected to attract industry professionals from India and across the globe. As Raj Manek, M D, Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India, said, “This year’s Techtextile India represents the largest numbers in the history of the Indian leg of this trade fair. Many brands have come to use this platform to introduce technical textile and nonwoven innovations to the Indian market.”
The popularity of Techtextile India has grown, with government bodies and major stakeholders coming forward with their support to take the event to a new, exciting level. India is emerging as a powerhouse of both production as well as consumption of technical textiles and has great potential to make an impact in the global industry. The key drivers for domestic technical textile market are: growth of sectors like infrastructure, automobile, aviation and general manufacturing. Fast-paced economic growth and higher disposable incomes also heavily contribute to making India a key market. The market for technical textiles is expected to reach Rs 1.58 lakh crore by 2016-17.
Exhibitors optimistic about fair
Talking about their participation at the fair, Paul Bamber, MD, Andrew Industries says, “While the industry in India is still at its nascent stage, we see immense growth potential in the country. We are first time participants at Techtextile India and are overwhelmed to see such a response.” Also on the same note, Vikas Sharan, VP-Textile Engineering Knitting, Synthetics, Non-Wovens & Carpets, ATE Enterprises said, “India has the right mix, we have the right government support, the right support from the trade association and from the industry as a whole all this have been instrumental in helping the industry grow and creating an awareness about technical textiles. What India needs now is guidance from companies like us who can help them understand the various applications and scope of growth in each sectors within technical textiles. India has a huge potential and this is evident from the amount of people walking into the event.”
New product launches on the anvil
At Techtextile India 2013 several companies are presenting innovative technologies and products suited for the Indian industry. Reliance Industries demonstrated Recron UVS, a revolutionary fibre which adds strength and provides protection from ultra voilet light in geotextiles. Sidwin Fabrics unveiled their reflective coated nonwoven fabric insulation barrier and their new brand of agricultural nonwoven products, ‘Agriwin’. Similarly, Georg Sahm GmbH& Co. KG introduced a new compact winder for technical yarns.
