Retailing And Merchandising In Textiles And Appare

Retailing and Merchandising in Textiles and Appare 3(2+1)

Lesson 27 : Textile Research Associations- Services Rendered

Ahmedabad Textiles Industry’s Research Association (Atira), Ahmedabad

The Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (commonly known as ATIRA) is an autonomous non-profit association for textile research located in the Navarangpura area of Ahmedabad, India. It is the largest association for textile research & allied industries in India. Established on December 13, 1947 and started in 1949, ATIRA was recognized by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. It was later linked to the Ministry of Textiles.

Membership and funding
Membership in ATIRA is voluntary. ATIRA has 146 member units in both India and abroad. Of these 93 are Ginning, Spinning, Weaving, Process Houses and Composite Textile Units and 53 are manufacturers of fibres, dyes, chemicals, instruments, equipments and machinery.

ATIRA is financed by four sources - Annual Subscription from member units, income from the services it has rendered, sponsored research from the Industry, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Information Technology and other agencies like the Gujarat State Government. Grant aid is also provided by the Government of India.

Performance
Need based consultancy was provided to the mills. The accredited cotton testing services of ATIRA were in very high demand during the year due to ever rising international demand for Indian cotton and general awareness about the quality.

Other important glimpses

• ATIRA scientists visited 79 units, paid 180 visits during the year for consultancy and project work, and prepared 116 reports for various units which sought ATIRA consultancy services.
• In all, 35,084 different samples were tested at ATIRA, Ahmadabad, and 1438 at ATIRA Regional Centre at Indore.
• ATIRA calibration laboratory took up 600 calibration assignments during the year, covering 4800 instruments from textile and other industries.
• ATIRA training programmes were in good demand during the year. In all, 325 mills sponsored their staff for the 122 ATIRA training programmes. 2,256 trainees participated. Additionally, 510 power looms workers/jobbers/owners were trained during the year.
• 3 books were published, and 4 papers were presented at various Conferences.
• 11 papers were published in Scientific & Technical Journals by ATIRA staff during the year
• 15 talks and lectures were given by ATIRA staff during the year.