Nonwovens

Textiles are more than everyday clothing. The car upholstery, wipes at restaurants, and personal care products are also a form of textiles. The market potential is huge for these and the Indian industries need to tap it with confidence

Non-woven is a globally young industry. With its capacity to cater to special applications, it has an exclusive market. A technical textile, which is made from non-woven materials mainly, is similar to conventional textiles, but its functionality is different.

Conventional textiles are used for clothing, home textiles, decorations, bedding, etc. Technical textiles are used for a special function. Non-wovens are replacing the use of conventional textiles in many applications due to low cost, more convenient to use, serves the purpose and can be tailor-made.

The non-woven industry has a huge market in the U.S., European countries and Japan. These countries also have advanced technology to make these products. Now, China has emerged as the world's largest producer of non-wovens in terms of quantity. India is also becoming a major producer of technical textiles and non-wovens. It also has a huge market for these product.

Now along with export, domestic consumption of technical textiles is increasing; majority of production is still exported. Though India has domestic consumption, technical textile products are yet to become popular.

Companies need to be innovative, need research and development to develop in-house technology, and know the market trend. There are no limitations for non-wovens.

To stay for long in the market, manufacturers need to change constantly. Companies should go in for environment-friendly products. They can look at using bio-degradable materials to produce the non-wovens rather than using oil-based polymers. So, more entrepreneurs in India should be encouraged to diversify to non-woven products.

The current projected year-to-year growth in the manufacturing sector is 15% and more importantly, there has been growth in the non-durable goods and sector. Most of the non-durable goods are nonwoven products and it is extremely important that this sector grows quickly in India. According to recent statistics from the USA based Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), Indian nonwoven industry is expected to register a growth of over 12.4%.