Ministry of Textiles has cleared 20 strategic research projects worth around 74 crore rupees in various areas under National Technical Textiles Mission. Of them, five projects are related to Speciality Fibres, six are of Agro-textiles and two each are of Smart Textiles, protective gear and apparel and geotextiles.<br />''<br />''These strategic projects were approved under the chairmanship of  Union Minister of Textiles, Piyush Goyal at a meeting in New Delhi yesterday, November 1. Mr. Goyal said that Industry and Academia linkages are essential for the growth of research and development in the application areas of Technical Textiles. He added that building convergence with Academicians, Scientists and Researchers is the need of the hour.<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">The Minister added that despite the prominent usage of speciality fibres in India, indigenization of the technology has still been a major challenge which needs collaborative interventions from both industry and academia.</span><br />