About Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA)
One of the top institutions for textile research in the nation is the Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA). In order to undertake applied scientific research and provide support services to the Indian textile industry, the textile industry and the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, jointly formed NITRA in 1974.
About Arindam Basu
Arindam Basu is the Director General of NITRA. He is competent in textiles, negotiations, business planning, international trade, and trend analysis. Strong business development specialist with a University of Leeds Ph.D. in Textile Engineering.
What are the recent developments at your COE?
COE for military automotive textile, cement, wear for metal industries, body protector, workwear for automotive.
Tell us about your R & D programmes that are going on?
There are 6 R & D projects. Out of which, nylon 66 kit is one which is made indigenously. This is not available at the moment. Also, we have specialized firefighter suit, agro-tech suit, pro-tech suit and yarn
Do you have any collaborations with institutes that teach textile technology? How can the students benefit from your COE?
Collab with iiit delhi, uni of London. Polythene suit, computer, knowledge, interaction is good
What is the status of technical textiles in terms of manufacturing in India and how is our standing in exports?
60-70%, growth will be 40% in the next 10 years . The scope is good and high.
Do you have any initiatives for entrepreneurs, skill development and training?
We encourage entrepreneurs to set up startups. Till now, we have 5 startups under us for natural fibers
Tell us about your collaborations with startups in Technical textile?
We have collaborations with 4 companies, all of which are startups.
Tell us about the market for technical textile, what are the current trends going on?
There is a continuous increase in consumption. When the consumption goes up, fabrics and workwear goes up too. This includes multi-control order too.
Tell us about the advancements in military clothing?
There is a standard upliftment and duct profile. This has to reach as soon as possible to the clients. The Fiber suit and all fibers are made by Arvind Group and all other businesses.