Mumbai– The technical textiles sector in the country has tremendous growth potential for generating employment opportunities and is consistently being looked upon for the future growth of the country, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here on Thursday.

He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the fifth edition of India’s premier exhibition “TECHNOTEX-2016” on the theme “Technical Textiles: Towards Future”.

Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra CM
Devendra Fadnavis Maharashtra CM

The three-day event, showcasing exhibitions, seminars and conference and being held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Goregaon from April 21-23, is jointly organised by the ministry of textiles and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Fadnavis, along with state Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar, released “i A-TUFS” software and guidelines, “Textiles Compendium 2014-15”, standards, “Knowledge Report and Technotex 2016 Exhibition Directory,” at the ceremony.

A gateway to the technical textile arena, the event bridges the gap between the buyer and seller by facilitating B2B (business to business) and G2B (government to business) meetings.

Addressing the gathering, Fadnavis said: “While the government has taken up concrete initiatives in the arena, the industry players also need to bring in large-scale innovations.”

“Maharashtra as a state had and will always actively participate in the initiatives taken up by the government for the further acceleration of the technical textiles in the country,” the chief minister added.

Sharing his vision on the future of technical textiles in India, Gangwar said: “The technical textile sector is still at its nascent stage but it has been recognised as the fastest growing segment of the textile sector by the government of India and industry stakeholders alike.”

The working group on technical textiles for 12th Five Year Plan (FYP) has projected the market size to Rs.1.58 lakh crore for the year 2016-17, with a growth rate of 20 percent during the 12th FYP.

“I am confident when the global technical textile industry revisits our shores in the next edition of “Technotex 2017″ from May 4-6, the Indian technical textile sector will be one of the most promising sector in the World,” Gangwar stated.