Northern India Textile Research Association Announces Move To Ramp Up Its R&D

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Northern India Textile Research Association Announces Move To Ramp Up Its R&D

Ghaziabad-based Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA), which is one of India's leading textile research institutes, has announced plans to intensify its research and development in a bid to try to overcome challenges facing the sector and capitalise on rising costs in China.

The announcement was made by NITRA on the occasion of the re-election of its chairman, Sanjay Kumar Jain, at its recent 41st annual general meeting.

NITRA is one of the prime textile research institutes in the country and was established by the Ministry of Textiles in 1974 to conduct research as well as provide support services to India's textile industry.

Its prime activities include R&D, technical consultancy, quality evaluation of materials, and manpower training. As such, NITRA says it will intensify its core activity in order to provide a better support service to the sector.

Jain told AGM attendees that the industry is going through “unprecedented challenges,” such as an increase in India's cotton prices, which have “pushed the industry to the brink.”

However, he said there is a “great opportunity” for the Indian textile industry to capture the space being vacated by the Chinese industry due to their spiralling costs as well as “immense potential” to conduct need-based R&D, adding that NITRA would focus on services such as technical training and testing.

Addressing the gathering, Jain praised the training offered by NITRA and advised young students to be “hardworking and quick learners” given the inadequate availability of skilled manpower in India’s textile industry.

The training programmes offered by NITRA cover areas such as garment manufacturing, designing, merchandising and quality assurance, he said.