SITRA Seeks Rs 80-Crore Support For Green Textile Processing Hub In Tirupur

The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) has proposed an Rs 80-crore project to advance sustainable textile processing in Tamil Nadu, seeking financial support from both the Central and State governments.

The proposal envisages setting up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Tirupur, India’s leading knitwear manufacturing hub, while upgrading research and development facilities at SITRA’s headquarters in Coimbatore.

According to SITRA Director Prakash Vasudevan, the CoE will be built on 2–3 acres and integrated with a common effluent treatment plant (CETP). It will serve textile processing units connected to the CETP by developing, demonstrating and commercialising advanced sustainable processing technologies.

The project aims to help textile and apparel manufacturers reduce water and salt consumption during dyeing and processing, enabling them to meet increasingly stringent sustainability requirements from international buyers.

SITRA has already developed saltless dyeing technology and is now working on waterless dyeing solutions as part of its ongoing research into environmentally responsible textile manufacturing.

The proposal has received industry support, with Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A. Sakthivel urging Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh to back the initiative during his recent visit to Tirupur.

Tirupur and neighbouring Perundurai are among India’s largest textile processing clusters. While most dyeing units have adopted Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems, industry sources say the disposal of sludge generated by effluent treatment plants remains a major environmental challenge, underscoring the need for continued innovation in sustainable textile processing.