The Indian warp knitting industry is scattered in different pockets like Mumbai, Surat, Delhi, Ludhiana and Amritsar mainly producing two- and three-bar tricot fabrics. The main application areas are women’s dress material and saris, lingerie and outerwear, furnishing fabrics, shoe fabrics, automotive fabrics, agro textiles and interlinings.

Demand for warp knitting machines continued to grow due to the huge consumption for warp knitted fabrics in the domestic market. Warp knitting is by far the most versatile and a high productive fabric production system in the textile industry. Although this industry has been present in India for many decades, it is not widely known or popular like other fabric forming processes such as weaving and circular knitting.

Warp knitted fabrics can be produced in various structures such as rigid and elastic, open or closely knit structures, in flat or tubular or also in three dimensional form. The fabric widths can go up to 6.6 meters or even in multiple of this width if it is a net structure.

Warp knitting machines are mainly classified in two sections or groups – Tricot and Raschel. Basic knitting elements on the Tricot machines are guides, needle, tongues and compound sinker and those on the Raschel machines are guides, needles, tongues, stitch comb bar and knock over comb or trick plate.