Tamil Nadu   

Rs.15-crore Knitwear Mission launched

Photo: M. Balaji

wide range: Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) chairman Rakesh Vaid (second right) taking a look at the garments on display at the 26th India Knit Fair in Tirupur on Wednesday. From left are AEPC secretary general V.K. Singh, Tirupur Exporters’ Association president A. Sakthivel and India Knit Fair Association secretary Premal Udani. —

TIRUPUR: The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) on Wednesday launched an industry-funded Knitwear Technology Mission (KTM) for the first time at an estimated cost of Rs. 15 crore to empower the exporting community to go in for wider range of products in different kinds of fabrics to cater to a larger market.

The AEPC chairman, Rakesh Vaid, inaugurating the Mission, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the 26th edition of India Knit Fair at Tirupur, said that the AEPC would give more emphasis to the knitwear sector, a most prominent one in the apparel industry. Tirupur will be the all-India headquarters of the Mission. The AEPC will begin construction of a 1-lakh square feet building, which according to Mr. Vaid, will be a landmark in Tirupur.

The building will be ready in 18 months. Research and development of indigenous fabric base, setting up of state-of-the-art design studio and lab, conducting fabric fairs incorporating Taiwan, Korea and Indonesia fabric producers and impart training to the workforce and students to improve productivity are some of the objectives of the mission. Congratulating Tirupur exporters who earn foreign exchange of more than Rs. 11,000 crore, Mr. Vaid hoped that the Mission would take the business to new heights.

Stating that the Rs. 15-crore investment was without seeking any grants from the government, he said the Mission would enable knitwear manufacturers to cater to the high-end market as Indian knitwear exporters had been supplying garments to the low-end segment.

While appealing to the exporting community to improve technology to enhance productivity, Mr. Vaid asked them to concentrate on domestic market that grows at a rapid pace.

The headquarters of KTM will have space to showcase and sell knitwear products. All members of Tirupur industry can use common facilities established by the KTM free of cost or by paying nominal charges if any.

“We will try to introduce new fabrics, printing and embroidery technology and stitching methods through the Mission,” he said.

Terming the initiative a historic one and a boon for knitwear exporters, Tirupur Exporters’ Association president A. Sakthivel said that it would help the industry in a big way. “Historically we have been producing garments with cotton as the base. Hence, we confine ourselves only to summer wear.

We have never thought of producing garments without cotton. With the new fabric base we will be able to cater to a larger market,” he hoped.

Initially it will focus on bringing new fabrics from other countries and will work on making them indigenously. More than 50 leading exporters from Tirupur, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Salem and Chennai have displayed their collections for spring/summer 2009. Garments made of organic fabrics were the main attraction. The fair will be on till Friday.

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