Coir industry will produce the most environment-friendly products in the years to come. It may also contribute substantially towards the growth of agro-textiles and geo-textiles, Kavita Gupta, Commissioner of Textiles, said on Saturday.

Inaugurating the one-day seminar and workshop on ‘Business Opportunities and Products Manufacturing Using Coir Needle Felt,’ organized by the PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore, Kavita Gupta said that the technical aspects of the company is very essential adding that it would contribute up to 40 percent of both export and domestic sectors in the industry.

Ranking the field as the second largest employer in India, next only to agriculture, the Commissioner also said that textile industry is lagging behind in research and development adding that the research works should be transferred into products so as to standardize and commercialize them. “The government is ready to fund innovative projects and research in the field,” she said.
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In order to help farmers, Gupta said that the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) was planning to procure cotton directly from the farmers by paying through bank accounts adding that final draft of the National Textile Policy was ready. “The demand of the industry members to include them in the board of CCI was also under consideration,” she said.

M. Kumar Raja, the Secretary of Coir Board under the Ministry of Small and Medium enterprises, said that Tamil Nadu contributes to more than 50 percent of the national total raw coir export. “Tamil Nadu contributes nearly 25,000 containers out of the 45,000 containers of raw coir all over India,” he said.

As many as 100 participants attended the seminar. Organizers said that the seminar is aimed at benefiting entrepreneurs who are looking for diversified application of coir in the industrial sector. Topics including schemes for promoting of agro-textiles and geo textiles in India (Excluding NER), coir composites, market scope for coir garden articles, application of coir needle felt in geo-textiles, schemes for coir business start-ups, schemes for MSME business start-ups, and export opportunities in coir garden articles and coir composites were covered in the seminar.