Govt may bring mandatory standards for technical items: Textiles Secretary
NEW DELHI: Raghvendra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India on Thursday said that the government is likely to consider bringing mandatory standards for technical textiles items where Indian standards are available. This will not only provide fillip to Make in India in technical textiles but will also improve the quality in areas like health, environment, security and safety.
Speaking at the 4th National Conclave on Standards for Technical Textiles, organized by FICCI jointly with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Ministry of Textiles, Singh said that India needs to develop its own industry for the growing market of technical textiles. India is going to have a very robust market for technical textiles in the years to come. He further added that the government is committed to standardisation and evaluating the items from which mandatory quality control orders could be removed. Singh also stated that currently, there are over 300 items of technical textiles where BIS standards are available, some of these could be the potential items for mandating. He further added that government is looking at inviting international companies to set up joint- venture in high value-added items where the technologies are licensed and manufactured by very few in the world. R K Bajaj, Deputy Director General (Standardisation), BIS, said that BIS's focus is on developing standards for sustainability and smart technologies in various sectors. Currently, India is least regulated in terms of Technical Barriers to trade as per WTO measures. While BIS was focusing earlier on product standards primarily, it is also focusing on standards for the services sector now.
Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman, FICCI Textiles Committee said that the notification of the HS Codes for 207 technical textiles items last month was a major step that would help in effective targeting of policy measures for the industry. He further added that the government should look at additional items of technical textiles for notification of HS Codes.
