South India Textile Research Association (SITRA), a centre of excellence for medical textiles in Coimbatore to support new ventures in medical textiles will commission an incubation facility in another three months. The dedicated incubation centre for medical textiles (textile products used in the healthcare sector) is set up at a cost of Rs. 2 crore and it can incubate two units at a time for a period of six months to two years , said Prakash Vasudevan, director of SITRA.

Both medical and hygiene textiles are picking up in India as more hospitals are using disposable products. Medical textile is growing every year at 13 percent to 15 percent. The centre of excellence here has so far completed 25 projects and three of these products have been commercialised. It has also developed standards for medical textiles for the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Mr. Vasudevan said that the association has tie-ups with some overseas universities for technology and plans more such agreements with universities in Australia, Germany, and Korea.

SITRA gets non-plan support and plan support (for research and development projects) from the Union Government. It takes up three to five research projects a year. So far, the focus of the association was on the spinning sector. Now it is looking at the other segments – weaving, and processing.

Just 12 to 13 percent of their revenue is from government grant. The rest are generated by SITRA. They hope to be self-sustainable in another five years. Its testing facilities and energy audits are used widely by the industry and there are plans to set up a centre at SIPCOT, Perundurai, to extend technical guidance to textile processing units there.

SITRA has trained 10,000 people in the last three years and plans to impart training to another 25,000 in the next three to four years under the integrated skill development scheme.

Union Minister for Textiles Santhosh Kumar Gangwar will take part the association’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations will be held on January 22 here, said D. Krishnamurthy, chairman, council of administration of SITRA. On the same day, the association has also organised a CEOs meet on “Prognosticating 2025 – Opportunities and Challenges for the Textile Industry.