US non-woven fabrics body plans Indian arm

Coimbatore: The US-based Association of Non-woven Fabrics Industry or INDA (formally International Non-woven Disposables Association) is close to setting up an Indian subsidiary.

To give momentum to this effort, INDA has also initiated an India-dedicated information dissemination by launching an online forum on non-woven fabrics.

INDA is the international trade body for non-woven/technical textiles.

While the floating of an Indian arm is intended to create an exclusive lobbying body for the trade associated with the non-woven fabrics, the launch of the online forum is aimed at breaking the technology and market barriers still widely felt among conventional textile entrepreneurs.

Their migration to the non-woven/technical textile ventures is hampered by lack of awareness on market needs, according to Mr Seshadri Ramkumar, co-chairman of INDA's India committee.

The online forum can be accessed for knowledge of the markets, technology and products by the Indian entrepreneurs in non-wovens.

INDA currently has only a representative office in Bangalore to liaise with Government officials and institutions/agencies connected with promotion of technical textiles.

It had already submitted all the papers to the Centre and the RBI to secure clearance for setting up the subsidiary in a month.

Mr Ramkumar and Mr Ian Butler, INDA US's Director, Market Research and Statistics, told presspersons that INDA's study on India's evolving non-wovens market had set the annual market growth at 12.5 per cent, with product applications from automotive, geotextiles and health/hygienic sectors providing the growth momentum.

INDA's interest springs from the fact that the NHAI's plan for Rs 25,000-crore investment in road sector projects, growing awareness on usage of disposable wipes and diapers among the 300 million upward mobile middle-class population and increased share from value-added textile production in a higher GDP, Mr Ramkumar said.

The Government has offered to encourage new investments in this sector by agreeing to support projects under the TUFS with higher capital subsidy.

Though initial capital investment in technical textile projects would be 5-7 times higher compared to conventional ventures, entrepreneurs could source technology at relatively cheaper costs from China.

China's non-woven technology has come of age with two decades of sound establishment, said Mr M. Mallyah, INDA's India representative.

The textile clusters in and around Coimbatore region could easily get into non-woven textiles manufacture using the advantage in raw material, skilled labour and contiguous markets in Chennai, whose automotive industry would be a major consumer, the INDA officials said.

They added that these factors also weigh strongly for the Government to locate a centre of excellence in Coimbatore.