A major textile hub, Coimbatore, is now known for three new textile centres of excellence, where several medium and large-scale industries are looking at technical textiles for diverse applications. Now with these centres, it is expected that innovative applications for textiles, especially using non-woven materials, will now get promoted.
The three CoEs for industrial textiles and home textiles at the PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research campus and the one for medical textiles at the South India Textile Research Association (SITRA), set up by Ministry of Textiles (MoT), will soon have incubation facilities (plug-and-play model). The focused incubation centre will come up at a cost of Rs 2.85 crore, and it will be looking at filtration products, coir and acoustic materials.
According to G Thilagavathi, Head of Department of Textile Technology at PSG College of Technology, “Some of the testing equipment are not available elsewhere and the industry can use it. Similarly, industries can join hands with the centre to take up research of products for specific applications. The centre can be used by any industry.”
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The centre will promote research, encourages industry to use the machinery installed, takes up testing, imparts training, and also manufactures products for commercial use. With more focus on research and better awareness on the facilities available at the centre, development and manufacture of products for industrial purpose can now make wet wipes for diverse uses and needle punching coir products.
According to data available, the market size for industrial textiles in the country is Rs. 9,929 crore, for medical textiles it is Rs. 4,282 crore and for home textiles, it is Rs. 9,274 crore. The market is growing at the rate of six per cent to 14 per cent annually, depending on the product.