India allocates $1 billion to technical textiles

India’s finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, presented a proposed budget for 2012–13 that invests $1 billion in technical textile growth in the form of a venture capital fund, India Opportunities Venture Fund. It is part of a five-year plan, the National Mission on Technical Textiles, and features a boost in investment for geotextile production; reduction in duties on manufacture of hygiene products; and exemption from or reduction of basic custom duties for aramid yarns and fabrics, automatic shuttle-less looms, raw materials and components for medical disposables, and raw materials used for coronary stents and heart valves.