Coimbatore-based textile research body plans to promote green processing through ₹80-crore project

The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) has mooted a ₹80-crore project to promote green textile processing.

The 70-year-old textile research association, based in Coimbatore, has urged the Tamil Nadu and Union governments to support the project, as Indian textile and apparel exporters look at sustainable production practices.

Prakash Vasudevan, director of SITRA, told The Hindu that the plan is to set up a Centre of Excellence in Tiruppur, which is a hub for garment production, and strengthen the research and development facilities at SITRA’s Coimbatore facility.

Garment and made-up manufacturers need to look at reducing water and salt usage in textile processing to meet the sustainability norms of western buyers. The plan is to set up a Centre of Excellence on 2-3 acres and connect it to a common effluent treatment plant.

All the textile processing units that are connected to the CETP will benefit from the technologies implemented through the Centre of Excellence.

The SITRA has already worked on saltless dyeing and is working on waterless dyeing, too. The research activities will be a continual effort, he said.

A. Sakthivel, chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, urged the Union Textile Minister Giriraj Singh to support the project when the Minister visited Tiruppur recently.

Tiruppur and the nearby town of Perundurai are major textile processing centres. Though the dyeing units in Tiruppur have opted for zero liquid discharge, disposing the sludge remains a major issue for the effluent treatment plants, say industry sources.