Surat Proposed as India’s Sportstech Capital in Ambitious 2047 Innovation Push

AHMEDABAD : In a major push to position India as a global leader in advanced sports textiles and wearable technology, Dr. Pankaj Gandhi, Director of MANTRA (Ministry of Textiles, Government of India), met Union Minister of State for Textiles Pabitra Margherita in New Delhi, presenting an ambitious roadmap to develop Surat as India’s Sportstech manufacturing and innovation hub.

The meeting, held on 30 June 2026, followed an invitation from Ms. Manisha Chatterjee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, where Dr. Gandhi presented a detailed executive policy note titled “Surat Sportstech 2047”.

Highlighting Surat’s dominance in the man-made fibre (MMF) and technical textiles ecosystem, Dr. Gandhi said the city already possesses a complete value chain—from fibre production to advanced processing, coating, lamination, machinery, and exports—making it uniquely positioned for Sportstech leadership.

“Surat has the complete ecosystem required for Sportstech manufacturing. With structured policy support, it can become India’s global hub for performance textiles and wearable innovation,” Dr. Gandhi said during the presentation.

He emphasized that global leaders such as Germany, Taiwan, Italy and the United States have built Sportstech dominance through research-driven ecosystems, while Surat already has a strong industrial foundation ready for transformation under Viksit Bharat 2047.

Dr. Gandhi proposed the creation of a “Surat Sportstech Mission (SSM-2047)” under the National Technical Textiles Mission, with MANTRA acting as the national knowledge partner.

The roadmap includes establishing a National Centre for Sportstech Innovation and Excellence, testing and certification laboratories, smart textile and wearable technology labs integrating AI and IoT, along with startup incubation, skill development programmes, and international collaboration platforms.

“This initiative will reduce import dependence, boost indigenous innovation, generate high-value exports, and position India among the world’s top Sportstech nations,” Dr. Gandhi added.

The proposal also recommends forming a multi-agency task force involving ministries, industry bodies and research institutions to prepare a Detailed Project Report within six months.