Govt. To Finance Center Of Excellence For Medical Textiles

The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) based in Coimbatore has been identified by the Union Ministry of Textiles as the center of excellence for production of medical textiles products.

Mr Arindam Basu, Director of the Association confirmed Fibre2fashion, “The Government would grant the center with about Rs100 million over a period of three years to set up the necessary facilities which would help augment and develop specialized line. Of this Rs30 million is expected to be released this year.”

Four major activities have been planned which includes, establishment of a laboratory that can have international recognition, a testing and evaluation system, an information technology-supported information base and training programs for personnel of the industry. Besides, plan for creating a video-conferencing facility is also underway.

Moreover, since Coimbatore has large number of hospitals and already has several units into medical textiles throughout Tamil Nadu, the upcoming center is likely to operate successfully aiding entrepreneurs to produce items with existing machinery and with minimum investment.

The center will also aim to train personnel in medical textiles but would start off with setting up testing facilities as this would help those companies already producing medical textiles to test their products and get required certification.

Additionally, the information system of the center would also help in providing details on fibre and machinery supplies for the production of medical textiles.

In a bid to promote medical textile, the center would go a step further to invite international experts to create awareness among local entrepreneurs about various products by means of seminars and workshops for the local industry.

(Ref : Fibre2fashion News Desk – India, July 12, 2008 (India)