Textile clusters in Coimbatore region urged to look at technologies for decarbonising textile processing

The textile clusters in Coimbatore and nearby areas should be open to adopting technologies piloted for real time data so that the entire cluster can progress in decarbonisation, said Nirmala Raja, managing director, Rajapalayam Mills, and chairperson, Ramco Community Services, in Coimbatore city on Thursday.

Speaking at a meeting titled ‘Future-Proofing Textile Manufacturing’, she said the textile processing industry needs heat for many activities. This can be generated from electricity rather than use of fossil fuel sources. However, the industry should be open to technology that is piloted in textile units, look for proof of concept, and work as a cluster for better results. The initiatives should also be at affordable costs, she said.

Ravi Sam, vice-chairman of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council, said the textile industry developed in the western districts of Tamil Nadu mainly because of availability of raw materials, manpower and power at competitive costs. While raw material and manpower are not available here anymore, the industry has urged the Tamil Nadu government to ensure availability of power supply at competitive costs.

The Perundurai SIPCOT Textile Processors Association secretary Suresh Manoharan said the association is working with Vasudha Foundation for quite some time to move away from use of fossil fuels in textile processing and adopt electrification. The foundation is supporting the Perundurai textile processing cluster by connecting the industrial units with technology providers and identifying viability gap funding options.

According to K. Selvaraju, secretary general of the Southern India Mills’ Association, while free trade agreements have enabled removal of tariff barriers for the Indian exporters, non-tariff barriers are a matter of concern. Marine discharge of treated textile processing effluent is a viable solution compared with zero liquid discharge, both in terms of capital investments and operational costs.

Srinivas Krishnaswamy, chief executive officer of Vasudha Foundation, said it had released climate plans for four districts and four cities in the State, including Coimbatore and The Nilgiris. The studies looked decarbonising the industrial clusters in Coimbatore and hospitality sector in The Nilgiris. It has taken up similar initiatives in Gujarat too.

The Vasudha Foundation on Thursday released a study titled ‘Electrification of Textile – Evidence and Insights from Textile Wet Processing Units in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat’.