Canopy calls for 15 billion dollar investment into India’s Next Gen material economy

Non-profit Canopy has said that an investment between 13 to 15 billion dollars may be needed in order to help build infrastructure in India to accelerate and support the production of Next Gen fibres. According to the organisation, Canopy believes that the country could play a pivotal role in transforming and innovating the textile industry, presenting the possibility to produce more than 10 million tonnes of Next Gen fibres annually.

Such potential was highlighted in a new paper, ‘Unlocking India’s Next Gen Economy: The Untapped Investment Frontiers in Material Substitution in India’s Textile and Pulp and Paper Industries’, which had been released at the investment forum Prabhav 2024. The research details how India could help in the transformation of 100 million tonnes of agricultural residues and two million tonnes of polyester-cotton textile waste into low-carbon paper, packaging and viscose.

In a release, Nicole Rycroft, Canopy’s founder and executive director, commented: “India has all the ingredients – abundant feedstock, technical expertise, and a culture of innovation. What’s needed now is targeted investment, industry collaboration, and government support to scale this vision into reality.”

Supporting India in this transition would also build on Canopy’s mission to catalyse 60 million tonnes of Next Gen pulp, paper and textiles globally over the next decade. For this goal, the organisation estimated that it needed 78 billion dollars in capital to support innovation, advancing textile recycling facilities and pulp and paper lines. Domestically in India, there is already some local support for Next Gen development coming from brands like Flipkart and Anita Dongre. Such names have joined Canopy’s growing list of partners, all of which hope to incentivise a more circular, low-carbon economy.