Indian fabric will soon replace the Chinese and other foreign clothing used for making military uniforms in the country. Thanks to DRDO as the organisation is helping Indian textile industries produce yarns that will end reliance on imports in this sector.
Dr Mayank Dwivedi, Director of Directorate of Industry Interface and Technology management (DIITM) at Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said that the approximate requirement of the fabric for Indian army's summer uniform alone is 55 lakh metres and if all the requirements of Navy, Air Force and Para Military forces are added then the requirement may go well beyond 1.5 crore metres per annum, reported Zee News.
"We are following our Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliance in all the products in India and particularly in defence products. If these yarns and fabric are manufactured in India for the purpose of uniform making for the armed forces, then it will be big achievement as it will help us move one step ahead towards Atmanirbhar Bharat," Dwivedi said.
The advanced fabrics can be used for future requirement of the parachute and bulletproof jackets as well, he said.
He also explained that the demand for technical textiles such as glass fabric, carbon fabric, aramid fabric and advanced ceramic fabrics is huge in defence applications. "Some industries in Ahmedabad and Surat are manufacturing advanced fabrics being used in defence applications," he added.
In a recent digital interaction organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) with the industries of Surat on September 17, the challenges faced by the textile industry were projected. During the interaction, Dr Dwivedi had talked about the opportunities in the areas of textile in the defence sector. He expressed his views on various possibilities of advance textile material and fabric used in the Indian Armed Forces.
"We are working to make technical textile for rocket motors and composite structure for the missile system. We are using technical textile in bullet-proof jackets as well. Similarly, I shared the idea of making blends like nylon 66 yarn, lycra fibre, viscose, polyester to make army uniforms at the CII webinar in the Surat industry recently. For a particular requirement of the Indian armed forces, the uniform can be made in a much better way," he added.
The major application of advanced textiles is required for the uniform worn by the Indian Armed Forces as well as all their accessories such as bags, shoes and tents which are used by the forces.
Pointing towards the initiative and the participation of Indian companies, he said, "In the webinar, more than 200 companies were interested in getting into this business. Bindal Silk Pvt Ltd, Lakshmipati Group among a few others were present and wanted to take up this initiative. This will not only boost the economy of the country but also generate lots employment and eventually give a boost to the GDP also."
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