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Textile industry in the South India is predominantly a spinning industry supplying yarn to the decentralized sector all over the country. The South has also large cotton growing areas with a number of ginneries. In the early fifties, the industrialists in the South under the leadership of Cavalier G.K.Devarajulu and Padmabushan K.Sreenivasan took the initiative to set up a laboratory at Coimbatore to specialize in fiber technology and spinning. The late Dr. R.K. Shanmugam Chetty, former Finance Minister was instrumental in bringing about the organization, thus The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) was born. And today, SITRA is equipped with state-of-art machinery and instruments that could be seen only in the best laboratories of the World.
History of SITRA
The foundation stone of SITRA was laid by the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on Christmas day in 1955.The institution then was only a vague concept in the minds of those pioneers who helped to establish it. At that time, the objective of SITRA was defined as follows.
"It will be our Endeavour to build up a group of workers well versed in the application of scientific knowledge to the problems of textile manufacture .By the use of the scientific method, we hope to bring about fusion of the various points of view in industry and thus help to produce better textiles at lower costs and at the same time attend to the well-being of all who work in the textile industry".
The South India Textile Research Association was conceived as a link in the chain of national laboratories in the country, sponsored by the textile industry and supported by the Government of India. The preliminary plans and budget estimates of establishing the institute as well as provisional programme of research and its finance were initially prepared by a Technical Committee appointed by the cotton Textiles Funds Committee (CTFC), Ministry of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs, Government of India. In view of the fact that a majority of the mills in the South are spinning units it was decided that SITRA, to start with, should mainly be concerned with fibre research, spinning and investigations to improve the quality and efficiency of the handloom industry. SITRA was later transferred from CTFC to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1961.Consequent to the Government of India's decision to attach the laboratories/research associations to the user industry, SITRA came under the Ministry of Industry. In 1980, the administrative support of SITRA was changed over to Department of Textiles, Ministry of Commerce and Civil Supplies; and from 1981 onwards it has been under the purview of Ministry of Textiles.
Growth of SITRA
SITRA commenced functioning in 1956 at the premises of The Southern India Mills' Association SIMA), Coimbatore. The growth of various departments in SITRA is as follows:
Liaison and Statistics (1956)
- Industrial Psychology (1956)
- Mechanical Processing (1957)
- Textile Physics (1957)
- Textile Engineering (1966)
- Power Loom Service Centre (1974)
- Instrumentation (1975)
- Knitting (1976)
- Textile Chemistry (1981)
- Labour Research & Training (1982)
- SITRA-APEC Centre for Knitting (1991)
- Jute Mill (1994)
- Eco Testing (1996
Services of SITRA:
Consultation Services
Consultation services constitute an important aspect of SITRA's work. It is a highly specialized function of SITRA taking into accounts the needs and requirements of each individual mill. Besides implementation of management techniques and studies on adhoc problems in individual mills, SITRA offers consultation services on a variety of areas.
Testing Services:
Testing the quality of material at different stages of processing from fibre to fabric and evaluation of processing performance by the application of physical, chemical and processing tests from an integral part of the services rendered by SITRA to its members. Based on research, consultancy work and inter-mill comparison studies, norms have been fixed by SITRA for all important quality characteristics.
Training/Services:
SITRA offers a wide range of training programmes periodically to fulfill specific and general requirements of member mills for various levels of management cadre and operatives. Such programmes are organized as a tool to translate SITRA's current R&D activities and their outcomes into real life practical situations with the objective of enhancing overall productivity, quality, resource utilization and safe work methods among member mills.
Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, the then President of India inaugurated Golden Jubilee celebrations of SITRA on 24th February 2007.
- Development of spun lace non – woven wound dressings using bamboo fibers:
- Development of barbed, bi-directional surgical sutures:
- Development of spun silk garments made of hollow yarn
- Breathability of Woven Surgical Gowns Treated with Nano Finishes
(Anti Microbial & Blood repellent finishes):
- Development of specialty 3D compression bandage for Lymphedema:
- Cut-resistance technical fabrics using Spectra filament Yarns:
- Development of Bifurcated vascular grafts
- Design and Development of hernia mesh
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Participants