Insights
- India’s technical textile sector is growing, with a 57 per cent increase in agrotech imports to ₹159 crore and a 24 per cent decrease in hometech imports to ₹82 crore from April to June 2023.
- Mobiltech imports remained stable.
- The ITTA reported agrotech and hometech imports at ₹102 crore and ₹108 crore, respectively, in the same period in 2022.
India’s technical textile sector appears to be on the rise as the government focuses on its development. Imports of agrotech products in India surged by 57 per cent, reaching ₹159 crore between April and June 2023. Conversely, hometech imports fell by 24 per cent to ₹82 crore during the same timeframe. Mobiltech imports remained relatively stable, dominating the import figures for technical textiles.
According to a study conducted by the Indian Technical Textile Association (ITTA), agrotech and hometech imports stood at ₹102 crore and ₹108 crore, respectively, for the period of April-June 2022. The trade data was released by India’s ministry of commerce and industry.
The report stated that during the first quarter of fiscal 2023-24 (April-March), the imports of buildtech were ₹561 crore, a 4 per cent decrease from ₹582 crore in the same period last year. Similarly, imports for clothtech were ₹57 crore (previously ₹87 crore), geotech ₹378 crore (previously ₹323 crore), indutech ₹804 crore (previously ₹916 crore), meditech ₹296 crore (previously ₹355 crore), mobiltech ₹1,571 crore (previously ₹1,568 crore), packtech ₹205 crore (previously ₹136 crore), protech ₹136 crore (previously ₹140 crore), sportech ₹163 crore (previously ₹163 crore), nonwovens ₹350 crore (previously ₹353 crore), speciality fibres ₹544 crore (previously ₹554 crore), and composites ₹79 crore (previously ₹43 crore).
In April-June 2023, India imported technical textiles worth ₹5,385 crore, which was one per cent lower than the ₹5,430 crore from the same period last year. In June 2023 alone, imports decreased by 12 per cent to ₹1,716 crore from ₹1,954 crore.