Ministry of Textiles GREAT Scheme for Technical Textiles Startups
The Ministry of Textiles, through its National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), has implemented the 'Grant for Research and Entrepreneurship across Aspiring Innovators in Technical Textiles (GREAT)' scheme to support the startup ecosystem in the technical textiles sector. The scheme provides financial assistance to young innovators, scientists, technologists, and startup ventures to translate their ideas into commercial technologies and products.
For the current financial year 2026-27, the NTTM has been allocated a total budget of ₹256 crore, which includes provisions for releasing grants to startups under the GREAT scheme. The scheme operates through an Evaluation and Monitoring Committee (EMC) that evaluates, monitors, and reviews the technical and financial parameters of startup proposals, submitting recommendations to the Empowered Programme Committee (EPC) for final approval.
Approved Startup Projects and Funding Details
A total of 31 startup projects have been approved under the GREAT scheme with a total project cost of ₹15.40 crore, of which the Government of India share amounts to ₹13.65 crore. The approved projects cover a wide range of technical textile applications including:
- Warming and Cooling High Performance Textiles (₹55,00,000)
- Surgical simulation models based on textile materials (₹50,00,000)
- Industrial hemp pultrusion cord & composites (₹66,16,500)
- Nanofibers-Infused Textiles for Energy Generation and Sensing (₹50,00,000)
- High-performance tyre-yarns using green processes (₹50,00,000)
- Radome Integrated IFF Antenna (₹50,00,000)
- Braided composites for Defense and Automobile applications (₹49,86,875)
- Sustainable Processing of Technical Textiles (₹50,00,000)
- Nanomaterial based Smart Textiles (₹50,00,000)
- Various medical textiles, smart wearables, sustainable materials, and defense applications
Implementation and Monitoring Framework
A Review and Monitoring Committee has been constituted to assess and oversee the progress of approved startups, with authority to recommend release of subsequent grant instalments and project closure to the Empowered Programme Committee. The scheme emphasizes robust collaborations between supported startups and established industry partners for prototype development, field trials, and market launches to ensure market-ready commercialization.
The Ministry is organizing various public events, workshops, seminars, and outreach activities nationwide to disseminate information about the scheme and facilitate industry engagement for scaling up potential startup projects. The anticipated economic impact includes strengthening the technical textiles ecosystem, catalyzing sustainable industry growth, and generating employment through successful scaling of these startups.