Growth in textile is sluggish - about 9% for several years now. That's a far cry from the early 1990s when the sector witnessed robust growth year on year. The slowdown has prompted many a textile player to look at "technical textiles", a hitherto unexplored segment, which analysts believe could be worth over $15 billion by 2012, and command 12% market share by value globally. For starters, technical textiles are textile materials manufactured mainly for their technical performance and functional properties rather than their aesthetic or decorative allure. They are mainly used in industries (mechanical engineering, chemical industry), medical field (women's hygiene products, medicine), defence (bullet-proof jackets, parachutes) and construction.
展开▼
