Startups, scientists working in technical textiles must be encouraged, says Piyush Goyal

With an aim to boost the technical textiles and bring in the same in the mainstream, Union minister of commerce, industry and textiles Piyush Goyal, said startups and young scientists working in such niche fields must be encouraged.

He made this remark during a review meeting of Textile Research Associations (TRA) earlier this week on November 3, an official statement from the Ministry of Textiles said quoting the minister.

At the review meeting, Union Minister Goyal asked Textile Research Associations (TRA) to submit proposals to the Ministry for any support they require to reach world-class levels of robust state-of-the-art labs, and modern machinery, amongst others. The Minister added that the Bureau of Indian Standards could provide necessary support in modernizing the labs of TRAs.

In accordance with the vision to foster innovation and drive science-centric sustainable growth, he suggested creating a special fund to increase the number of scientists in TRAs, the statement said.

Pointing out the need to assess the projects till their last-mile success, he added that the projects might be sanctioned accordingly to make them commercially viable.

Moreover, he noted that for medical textiles the research is incomplete without clinical trials, therefore the costs associated with clinical trials may also be taken into account while recommending future projects in technical textiles.

Goyal asked to explore the possibilities of merging TRAs or fostering partnerships among TRAs engaged in similar kinds of research in order to bring synergy among these bodies and instructed that the quarterly engagement of TRAs with the Ministry be institutionalized.

The review meeting was attended by VK Saraswat, Member (Science and Technology), NITI Aayog, Prof. Ajay K. Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and representative of 8 TRAs (affiliated bodies under the Ministry of Textile), namely, Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) Ahmedabad, The Bombay Textile Research Association (BTRA) Mumbai, Man-Made Textiles Research Association (MANTRA) Surat, Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) Ghaziabad, Synthetic and Art Silk Mills Research Association (SASMIRA) Mumbai, South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) Coimbatore, Wool Research Association (WRA), Thane, and Indian Jute Industries Research Association (IJIRA) Kolkata.

"Several presentations were made by the TRAs, highlighting their performance over the last decade which includes their research projects, patents status, machinery and equipment statistics and strategies for the future," the statement added.

( With inputs from ANI )