| Industry experts feel that diversifying into technical textiles and increasing capacities will help domestic textile firms to hedge against the losses arising from the strengthening rupee. |
| The market size of technical textiles in the country in 2003-04 was estimated to be around Rs 19,130 crore. It is expected to touch Rs 29,579 crore in 2007-08. Automotive textiles, medical textiles, geo-textiles, among others, have shown significant growth in the last couple of years. |
| SRF Industries, which currently has a 50,000 tonnes capacity in nylon cord used in tyres, is set to expand its capacity in automotive textiles. The Gurgaon-based textile company does not want to lose the opportunities thrown up by the automotive textiles segment in the wake of an automobile boom in the country. |
| "The opportunity in automotive textiles is huge. The boom in auto sector is expected to sustain in the coming years. With radialisation in automobiles going up, a new plant is being set up in Chennai at the existing facility with an investment of Rs 250 crore," said Sushil Kapoor, chief executive officer, technical textiles business, SRF Industries. |
| The new manufacturing unit will produce polyester yarns to be used for radial tyres. It will have a capacity of 14,500 tonnes a year and is expected to commence production by April 2009. |
| "Simultaneously, we are also evaluating other downstream applications in technical textiles to foray into," added Kapoor. |
| Alok Industries, a fast-growing, vertically integrated textile firm, too is in no mood to miss the technical textiles bus. "Though we are currently present in this sector (technical textiles) in a small way, we have a strong inclination to increase our focus on the sector. The emerging sector provides better premium and is hence a profitable venture," said Sunil Khandelwal, the chief financial officer of the company. The company expects around 10 per cent of its revenue to come from technical textiles by FY10. Technical textiles hardly contribute 1 per cent to the company's current revenue. |
| Century Textiles and Industries, which is setting up a new facility in Gujarat's Bharuch, is also eyeing the technical textiles market. R K Dalmia, the president of the company, said, "Once our Bharuch unit is completed, we will look into the possibility of investing in and diversifying into technical textiles. We can also go for a separate plant adjacent to or at the upcoming plant." However, he added that the company would examine the prospects in detail since the concept was new. |
| Raymond too is keen to enter the technical textiles sector. "We are examining different venues and options to go ahead. However, there is no concrete plan so far," said Ajay Jain, vice-president, projects, Raymond. |
| Admitting the scope offered by technical textiles, L L Soni, associate vice-president of Sangam India, said, "We might explore new opportunities as the company is undergoing upgrade in processing technology. For technical textiles, there is no need to change a whole set of machinery. Instead, we only need to make some changes in the processing sector." |
| The company currently has an annual capacity of 3 million metres of nylon cord, which is used in various applications. It has targeted a capacity of 4-5 million metres in the next couple of years. |
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