Work apace on CoE for Sportech

Setting up of Centre of Excellence in Sportech at Wool Research Association, Thane Textiles inherently can pose immense versatility and are capable of shaping into various functional products for varied uses – from packaging material to high-end uses like defence, space, aviation, etc. These phenomena have led to a new class of textile products, viz, technical textiles.

Technical textiles on its own merit have an important place in material science along with micro-electronics and biotechnology, which will shape the developments in this century. CAGR of technical textiles in the west is 2.4%, whereas it is 6.5% in India and China. Considering the significance of knowledge based emerging technology of technical textiles, the Ministry of Textiles, formed a Technology Mission in Technical Textiles to set up Centres of Excellence in 8 sectors of technical textiles and, after scrutiny and evaluation by Project Approval Committee chaired by Secretary (Textiles), have designated earlier 7 Centres of Excellence in various sectors of technical textiles during last few years.

In the month of February 2012, request for Proposal (RFP) for Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Sportech was invited by the Textile Commissioner on behalf of the Government of India. Wool Research Association (WRA) participated in the bid as the Lead Partner of a Consortium formed with Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Mumbai and Kusumgar Corporates, a leading technical textile manufacturer, as members. Besides, Raymonds Ltd, Grentex & Co Pvt Ltd, Banswara Syntex and Shree Ram Textile Mills extended their support to WRA for setting up the CoE in Sportech. After evaluation, the Project Approval Committee (PAC) approved the proposal and subsequently WRA was designated last month as Centre of Excellence in Sportech.

Sportech sector alongwith mobil-tech and indutech sectors of technical textiles constitute 55 - 57% of total technical textiles on a global basis. Today's sportsman requires special sports clothing to enhance his comfort, protection and performance to supercede his competitors. Broadly, there are three categories of sportech products, viz, sportwear, sports goods and sports accessories. In India there are at least 12 clusters of sportech manufacturers and more than a dozen sports bodies representing the users of sportech.

Wool Research Association (WRA) is a textile research association established in 1963 by the woollen & worsted industry. Since last two decades, it had modestly engaged itself in the development of technical textiles. It had undertaken a few sponsored projects relating to Sportech, Indutech, Mobiltech, etc.

The Centre of Excellence in Sportech will have following infrastructure facilities: Modern Accredited Testing Laboratory; Prototype Development plant and machinery; Incubation Centre; Resource Centre with IT infrastructure; Training facility for HRD in Technical Textiles; Formation of standards, specifications, norms; Sample Bank; Seminar, Workshops, FGD, etc.

The Office of the Textile Commissioner will provide a fund support of Rs 24.50 crore for the project of CoE in Sportech, which includes a recurring expenditure of Rs 3 crore for appointment of consultants under this project. Steering Committee for Growth and Development of Technical Textiles (SCGDTT) constituted under the chairmanship of Textile Commissioner will monitor, review and co-ordinate the activities of the CoE.

Reference  : http://www.indiantextilejournal.com/articles/FAdetails.asp?id=4639

WRA News Letter :  http://www.wraindia.com/NEWSLETTER%20JULY%202012.pdf

CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE FOR TECHNICAL TEXTILES

Technical Textiles Industry is diverse; broad based and encompasses 12 segments depending on the characteristics, functional requirement and end use applications. Under the Scheme for Growth and Development of Technical Textiles (SGDTT), launched during 2007-08, the government has set up four Centers of Excellence (COE) to provide support to the manufacturers of the identified segments of the technical textile industry. The four identified Centers of Excellence are detailed below:

Sr. No.	Name of agencies	Area of Centre of Excellence
1.	The Bombay Textile Research Association (BTRA) & Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) with BTRA as lead partner.	Geotech
2.	Synthetic & Art Silk Mills Research Association (SASMIRA) & Man-made Textile Research Association (MANTRA) & Navsari Agriculture University with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi as knowledge partner with SASMIRA as lead partner.	Agrotech
3.	Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) & Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi with NITRA as lead partner.	Protech
4.	South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) and AC College of Technology with SITRA as lead partner.	Meditech

The Ministry of Textiles has launched Technology Mission on Technical Textiles (TMTT) with two mini- missions for a period of five years (from 2010-11 to 2014-15) with a fund outlay of Rs. 200 crore. Under TMTT four more COEs are being set up in the area of Nonwovens, Composites, Indutech and Sportech.

The Government has already designated four new Centers of Excellence (COEs) and are being established. The details of three new COEs are given below:

Sr. No.	Name of agencies	Area of Centre of Excellence
1	DKTE Society’s Textile and Engineering      Institute, Ichalkaranji, Maharashtra	Non-Wovens
2	PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu	Indutech
3	Ahmedabad Textile Industries (ATIRA), Ahmadabad, Gujarat. Research Association	Composites
4	Wool Research Association (WRA), Thane, Maharashtra	Sportech

The essential facilities at the center of excellence are as follows,

i) Facilities for testing and evaluation of products of identified segments of technical textiles with national / international accreditation and collaboration with foreign institutes / laboratories

The common testing facilities are to be set up as per International Standards like American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), British Standards (BS), German Institute for Standardization(DIN), International Organization for Standardization(ISO) & European Standards(EN) etc. for different products of segment for which they shall be developed as COE. The proposed testing facilities shall cater to the requirement of testing the final product and also the fibre, yarn, fabrics and other elements that go into final product. The testing laboratories of Centres of Excellence shall get the national accreditation by NABL and shall also get their testing labs accredited by international institutes so that their test results are accepted in the international market.

ii) Resource Centre with I.T. infrastructure

The information resource centre of Centres of Excellence shall be equipped with technical literature, reference material, books, specifications, directives and a sample bank containing samples of various products and information about manufacturing, production standards, testing procedures etc. for the products of the segment for which they shall be developed as

COE. An exclusive website for that particular segment of the technical textiles shall be developed and maintained by all COEs. These sites shall provide link to each other as well as other sites including international sites with information on technical textiles. The video conferencing facilities will also be set up in COEs for interaction / participation in workshops / seminars organized nationally and internationally.

iii) Facilities for indigenous development of prototypes

 Pilot plant facilities shall be created for development of prototypes / technology which shall be transferred to the industry after standardization and optimization of the production process. COEs shall also enlist the services of reputed foreign consultants for providing technology support for development of such products, if necessary.

iv) Facilities for training of core personnel and regular training of personnel from the technical textile industry

COE shall impart training to textile technologists, academicians, scientists etc. from TRAs, institutes and industry to develop a set of core professionals (trainers). The Education and training programme shall also cover Shop floor training (i.e. training on specific machines/technology).

v) Knowledge sharing with stake holders

Dearth of knowledge and thus, lack of acceptance of technical textile products by the end-users such as Farmers, Civil engineers, Architects, Medical practitioners, Government agencies (PWD, MMRDA etc.) is a key reason for the low demand for some of the critical technical textile products. The COEs shall conduct workshops with the personnel of allied industries for awareness and promotion of respective technical textile products. Need based Audio-visual films will be prepared on various aspects viz. technicality of potential products / application areas / installation & manufacturing process of their respective segments of technical textiles and it will be shown among users, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, etc during workshops/seminars, etc.

vi) Incubation Centre

COEs will be developed as an incubation centre for the products of their segment and will provide necessary facilities to the entrepreneurs for incubation of new ideas/technologies.

vii) Setting up of standards at par with global level

 Technical textiles are functional textiles. Therefore, stringent performance parameters have been prescribed by the international agencies. In India the standards and specifications are not available for most of the technical textile products. The COEs will provide support to the BIS in formulation of standards.

http://gopaidweekly.com/?ref=179555

Production of Textile Industry

The details of production of textiles products including Cotton Clothes during last three years item wise are given at Annexure-I. The Plan of action prepared by Government to augment the production capacity to meet the current demand in India and abroad are (i) Assistance under Technological Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), (ii) (b) Skill development programme under ATDC to make available skill workforce to apparel export sector, (iii) Capacity Development under DISHA programme and (iv) Advance License Scheme for import input etc.

The National Fibre Policy has been formulated by the Government with a decadal perspective of 2010-20 and seeks to place India firmly on the World Fibre map by strengthening the existing policy framework and providing institutional and technological support for rapid Fibre growth in the country in the coming decade. The Fibre neutral policy seeks to balance the existing disparities within the complete range of fibres by providing additional fiscal and non fiscal incentives for sustainable growth of all fibres and be competitive in the international market. The key targets of the National Fibre Policy thus include the following:-

(i)     It is estimated that the Textiles Industry would require investments worth Rs 188,000 Crores during FY10-FY20 for creating the required capacity along the textile value chain on the basis of estimate of the increased fibre production. Government has in the Union Budget 2013 announced continuation of TUFS with an allocation of Rs.11952 crores for attracting an investment of Rs.1,51,000 crores.

(ii)    Cotton production is envisaged to rise at a growth rate of 4.7 percent from 319 lakh bales in 2010-11 to 483 lakh bales in 2019-2020

(iii)  Man Made Fibres and Speciality Fibres domestic demand will rise at growth rate of 8 percent per annum from 3.9 billion kgs in 2015 to 6 billion kgs in 2020. Man-made fibres and speciality fibres are showing an increase in production of 8 percent and total production has reached 1400 million kgs.

The Plan of action prepared by Government to promote textiles industry as a whole are (a) Continuation of MAI (Market Access Initiatives) and MDA (Market Development Assistance) to apparel export for market diversification and to increase their share in world trade (b) Skill development programme under ATDC to make available skill workforce to apparel export sector (c) Assistance under Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP) (d) Assistance under Technological Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) and (e) Integrated Scheme for Powerloom Sector Development (ISPSD).

Annexure-I

Production of Textiles

Items	Unit	PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE ITEMS
		2010-11	2011-12 (Prov.)	(April-Jan) 2012-13 (Prov.)
Man made fibre	Mn. Kg.	1285	1234	1057
spun yarn	Mn. Kg.	4713	4373	4001
Man made filament yarn	Mn. Kg.	1550	1463	1178
Cotton Fabrics	Mn. Sq.mtr	31718	30570	28171
All Fabrics (including Khadi, wool & silk)	Mn. Sq.mtr	62559	60453	51296

Source: Textiles Commissioner, Mumbai (last updated on 28.03.2013)

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles, Smt. Panabaaka Lakshmi in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 28.03.2013.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=95223

Anand Sharma Launches 21 New Textiles Parks on 23-April, 2013

Anand Sharma Launches 21 New Textiles Parks                                                                                                                                         23-April, 2013

The Union Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles, Shri Anand Sharma launched 21 New Textile Parks approved under Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP) here today. These new parks take the total number to 61 parks as 40 Parks were sanctioned earlier. The Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parks (SITP) has been instrumental in development of wide range of models for green field clusters from a 1000 acre FDI driven integrated cluster, to a 100 acre powerloom cluster and a 20 acre handloom cluster. Under the scheme, 61 parks have been sanctioned – 40 projects were started in the 11th Five Year Plan and another 21 projects are to be implemented in the 12th Five Year Plan. Out of the 40 parks sanctioned earlier, a total of 25 Parks are already operational. Most of the balance Parks are expected to be completed during this financial year. The estimated employment generation is over 10 lac persons with total estimated investment of Rs. 27, 562 crore. Shri Sharma also released a coffee table book on SITPs. The book encapsulates the broad features of various ITPs set up all over India and is a ready reference for the same. The book gives a brief physical and pictorial status of each ongoing Park approved under SITP. He also released a short film on SITP and visited a photo exhibition that was created to mark the event. Out of the 21 new parks, six are in Maharashtra, four in Rajasthan, two each in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and one each in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Karnataka, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. In this year’s budget speech, the Finance Minister announced an additional amount of upto Rs. 10 crores per park for setting up apparel manufacturing units for the projects under the SITP. Necessary action is being taken for implementing the announcement. ***** DS/RK (Release ID :94998)