Centre approves ₹50 lakh grants each for 7 startups in technical textiles to boost innovation and sustainability

livemint.com:

₹50 lakh each for seven startups in the technical textiles sector under the National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM).This initiative aims to promote innovation and sustainability while fostering transformative developments in the industry, the Ministry of Textiles said in a statement.The ministry has set a target to support 150 startups to promote innovations in technical textiles. These seven are in addition to one that was approved earlier.Mint on 4 June was the first to report that the textiles ministry planned to give grants of up to ₹50 lakh each to 150 startups that are engaged in making technical textiles and that the ministry will not seek any share of the profits from the business generated.Also read: Centre to fund 150 startups with ₹50 lakh each for developing advanced technical textilesAdditionally, the textiles ministry has relaxed the royalty cap on this scheme.

Generally, every fund provider takes a percentage of the profits that the startup earns as ‘royalty’, in return for their investment. This relaxation will make it easier for these start-ups to grow.Proposals focusing on sustainability, composites, high-performance textiles, meditech, and smart textiles, driving significant advancements in these crucial areas, have been approved by the Empowered Programme Committee (EPC), chaired by Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah, the ministry stated in a statement.The grants have been approved under the NTTM’s Grant for Research and Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT) scheme.