Home / News / India Establishes 4 New Centers of Excellence in Technical Textiles

India Establishes 4 New Centers of Excellence in Technical Textiles

26 Mar '11

2 min read

Indian Government on March 25th officially announced the creation of 4 new Centers of Excellence in technical Textiles as part of Technology Mission on Technical Textiles (TMTT). Total investment will be about US$ 22 million for a period of three years.

In speaking to this scribe on March 25th (11 PM US-CST), Mr. Anil Joshi, India's Textile Commissioner advised that the Project Advisory Committee under the chairpersonship of India's Textile Secretary met on March 18th and selected the four new centers. He said Phase I money will be released as soon as possible once the designated centers establish suitable launch vehicle to execute the program.

The four focus areas are nonwovens, sportech, indutech and composites. The funding will be for a period of three years from 2010 till 2013. Each center will receive a government support of Rupees 24.5 crores (US$ 5.44 million) which will be used for infrastructure and personnel support. Majority of the funding support will go towards capital equipment.

Ichalkaranji based DKTE Textile & Engineering Institute will establish the center for nonwovens. Professor Kadole, project coordinator for this proposed center spoke from Ichalkaranji, India to the author on March 25th and expressed his thanks to the Government of India for establishing the first one-stop R&D center for nonwoven technology in India. Texas Tech University, USA is collaborating with this institute in establishing the center of excellence in nonwovens. Kadole said the institute will provide Rupees 6.5 crores (US$1.44 million) towards establishing the center.

Guru Gobind Singhji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Nanded and Garware Wall Ropes, Ltd. Pune will establish the center for sportech. Coimbatore based PSG College of Technology will create center for industrial textiles. Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association will focus on composites.

Total investment from the government of India for the new centers will be Rupees 98 crores (US$ 22 million).

Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University