Geosynthetics have gained traction in recent years as land has become expensive in India. They can enable the build of lean, yet safe, long-lasting and environment-friendly structures. Geosynthetics significantly reduce capital and maintenance costs and speed up construction time. Projects involving geosynthetics can be completed with substantially less concrete, steel and earth. They use reinforced soil walls on highways, which helps reduce the transportation cost and the carbon footprint. Geosynthetics will play a significant role in meeting the aggressive infrastructure budget requirements and timelines over the next few years.
Challenges in adoption
While geosynthetics provide overall benefits in terms of faster speed of construction, lower maintenance requirements and environment conservation, their adoption in India has been quite low. Some of the key reasons are low awareness of the benefits; lack of technical expertise and trained engineers, absence of technical standards and adequate research on the application of such products as per local conditions; unavailability of low-cost substitutes; and the highly volatile prices of geosynthetic products (being a derivative of crude oil). The perception about the durability of geosynthetics and environmental damage caused due to their degradation is also a concern. In addition, the increasing penetration of unorganised manufacturing units in India poses a threat to the growth of the geotextiles market. In India, the use of geosynthetics is also constrained by its relatively high costs in comparison to alternative materials.
Increasing use of natural geotextiles
Given the several benefits of geosynthetics in many fields, alternatives such as natural geotextiles have found greater acceptance. However, as natural geotextiles are biodegradable, their use is generally limited to areas that require short-term reinforcement till the time natural vegetation grows and becomes strong enough to hold the soil. These natural geotextiles help control soil erosion, stabilise slopes and river embankments, subsurface drains, etc.
Natural geotextiles are agro based, typically derived from jute, coconut coir, straw, rubber, etc. Jute-based geotextiles have found support from the government in an effort to utilise jute production. Some state governments have also promoted the use of natural geotextiles for the construction of rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Another advantage associated with these geotextiles is that they are renewable products with no environmental damage. In applications where durability is required, synthetic geotextiles are expected to be of greater benefit than natural ones.
Key recommendations
Experts in the field of geotextiles/geosynthetics must be available at the project site to ensure proper usage. Public sector projects must maximise the use of geosynthetics and give preference to local manufacturers for all Indian civil projects. Research and development efforts in the geosynthetics industry must be stepped up for evolving the existing codes and guidelines for the usage of geosynthetics in infrastructure projects. The industry should adopt an interactive approach between civil engineers and geotextile producers so that challenges faced by civil engineers can be addressed promptly. Close interaction and participation of users, manufacturers, and research and academic institutions in the geosynthetic development process must be encouraged. Effective geosynthetic/geotextile technologies should be popularised through demonstration projects.
Government initiatives
The government allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment under the automatic route in technical textiles. International technical textile manufacturers such as Ahlstrom, Terram, Maccaferri and Strata Geosystems have already initiated operations in India. In 2019, the Ministry of Textiles dedicated 207 HSN codes to technical textiles to help monitor the import and export data for providing financial support and other incentives to manufacturers. With a view to position the country as a global leader in technical textiles, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval to set up a National Technical Textiles Mission with a total outlay of $194 million in February 2020. The mission will be set up for a four-year implementation period from 2019-20 to 2023-24. Besides, the Ministry of Textiles is already in the process of creating an ecosystem model that would allow the development of new mega textile parks exclusively for technical textiles and the upgradation of existing 19 functional textile parks supported by the government.
Outlook
Globally, geosynthetics have played a key role in infrastructure development. The need is for India to develop its own ability and capability to make the best use of its huge underlying potential. In the Indian context, geosynthetics lend improved quality, faster adoption and lower life-cycle cost for all infrastructure development. The technical textiles industry is at a nascent stage in India and hence holds immense potential for growth. With the government’s plans to create world-class infrastructure in the country, and implement several policies and schemes, technical textiles are poised to grow.
Useful physical properties such as durability, elasticity and versatility make technical textiles even more useful in the face of changing climate, global warming and complex industrial processes. The presence of large and global and domestic players has also influenced the growth of technical textiles.
The road sector represents the most lucrative area for the Indian geotextile business due to its direct applicability and the sheer scale of projects. Geotextiles are used to separate different layers of sand, aggregate and bitumen, and construct bridges, flyovers, underpasses, culverts, embankments, etc. With the renewed focus on the Bharatmala Pariyojana, the road sector is at an all-time high. Due to its multiple advantages, geotextiles have become an integral part of road engineering.
The railway sector is another fast emerging application area for geotextiles, as upcoming metro rail, bullet train and high speed train projects in the country are expected to fuel the demand for geotextiles. The use of non-woven geotextiles has been widely recommended in developing landfill sites for scientifically managing solid waste. Geotextiles have already been used in several landfill projects across the country. Currently, there is a massive lacuna in solid waste management in the country and there is a huge deficit in terms of scientific solid waste disposal. Several studies have indicated that there is an urgent need to develop scientific landfill sites to prevent groundwater contamination and soil quality deterioration.
With the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) envisaging an investment of Rs 111 trillion for infrastructure development, the next few years could usher in a new era of rapid growth for the geosynthetics industry. The projects identified under the NIP cover the energy, road, railway, urban development, irrigation and health sectors, where technical textiles can be extensively used. Stringent government policies and regulations on the use of geotextiles and increasing investments in infrastructure projects are some of the other major factors driving the geotextiles market in the country.