Even as the Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (ATIRA) is set to unveil an incubation centre at its premises, the project has already attracted enquiries from the likes of Welspun and Alok Industries. To be unveiled on May 10, 2012, the incubation centre at ATIRA will help textile mills develop products in the technical textiles segment.
According to an ATIRA official, "Apart from several small and medium enterprises (SMEs), textile biggies like Welspun and Alok have made enquiries about the upcoming incubation centre. In all, we have received about 10-12 enquiries from small and big textile players."
The incubation centre is being set up at an investment of Rs 15 crore, majority of which is being borne by the Government of Gujarat and partly by ATIRA. The main purpose of the centre is to instill confidence among textile mills to develop products in the technical textile segment till they get it commercially right, the official stated on condition of anonymity.
"An old mill in the ATIRA premises has been converted into an incubation centre wherein modern equipment have been imported and installed for textile mills to use in developing innovative products in technical textiles. No specific deadline has been fixed in allowing textile companies to use the incubation centre. Firms can use latest equipment to keep developing and testing commercial viability of new products," the official added.
Spread across an area of roughly 10,000 sq ft, the incubation centre is yet another initiative by the state government to develop ATIRA as a centre of excellence in technical textiles segment. Earlier, in association with German lab, Geoscope, ATIRA established Asia's first testing and certification laboratory in geotextiles at its campus. Further, the institute has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the likes of Karl Sruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, Bremen University of Germany, and National Composite Centre, University of Manchester, United Kingdom as part of a centre of excellence (CoE) in technical textiles at ATIRA.
