Tamil Nadu - Dindigul   

Modernisation of factories stressed

— PHOTO: G. KARTHIKEYAN

THE WAY FORWARD: S. Ulaganathan, Director, Textiles Committee, addressing a workshop in Dindigul on Friday.

DINDIGUL: Modernisation of ginning and pressing industries was essential because spinning and weaving industries required only good quality cotton said S. Ulaganathan, Director, Textiles Committee, Ministry of Textiles.

Addressing a workshop on ‘Rating of ginning and pressing factories’ here on Friday, he said that the Centre launched Technology Mission on Cotton to modernise ginning and pressing industries, increase cotton production, scale down cultivation costs and improve infrastructure for cotton agriculture market yard with an aim to improve quality of cotton. It would offer 25 per cent of the cost of modernisation of ginning and pressing units.

Modernisation with improved civil structure would scale down trash level in cotton to one to 1.5 per cent against the present level of eight per cent. Mechanical handling would substantially reduce contamination.

The Textiles Committee had also started grading ginning and pressing units on the basis of machineries, civil structure, management practices and trash level. Over 350 units had been assessed so far. “Now, the rating is voluntary but in future it may be made mandatory.”

Five grades of rating from lowest of single star to highest of five stars would be given to factories after assessing technical merits such as infrastructure, management practices and quality of ginned cotton. After on-site assessment, a Technical Rating Award Committee would assign appropriate rating to the factory. A certificate of rating would be issued by the Textiles Committee after an agreement with the factory.

Such a grading would enable factories to know their status and identify scope for improvement and boost credibility. Cotton traders and spinning mills also would select ginning factories on the basis of rating for buying quality cotton.

Cotton production in the country was 314 lakh bales in 2007-08, which was 21.1 per cent of global production. Only India had been producing all classes of cotton such as short, medium, long and extra-long fibre for spinning count ranging from 6 to 120. The country had 2,600 ginning factories, but was in the list of most contaminated cotton suppliers.

Outdated machineries, poor maintenance of ginning and pressing machines, untrained labourers, lack of infrastructure and absence of pre-cleaning and post-cleaning facilities were responsible for high trash content in cotton, he said.

Collector M. Vallalar assured to extend all assistance for survival and development of spinning mills.

Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association president A.P. Appukutty made an appeal to restrict cotton exports to meet growing domestic demand failing which textile industry, particularly spinning mills, would perish.

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