An International Monetary Fund (IMF) working paper reports that there is a huge market for technical textiles that includes packaging, sports textiles, military textiles, and medical and hygiene textile. Manufacturers have increased production of technical textiles, following a rise in demand for the same in various sectors. These constitute non-clothing items used in aerospace, marine, medical, civil engineering and other industrial applications. Non-woven textiles account for bulk of the demand but there is an increasing interest in composite fabrics as well, the paper states. According to industry experts, 90% of India's demand is currently met through
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| imports but a few companies have set up manufacturing facilities in the country.
India's current consumption of technical textiles is placed at 20,000 tonnes per annum. In contrast, China has already reached a consumption of six lakh tonnes. One prominent domestic company, manufacturing cotton yarn, has set up a unit in Gujarat recently which has a capacity to manufacture 12,000 tonnes of non-woven fabrics per annum. This is said to be the first of its kind in India. The government, reportedly, is considering a proposal to reduce customs duty on a range of machines and fabrics needed for their manufacture. Such a measure is expected to promote production and use of technical textiles in the non-woven category. 
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