Towards faster growth of Indian textile industry
India is undoubtedly one of the largest producers of textiles in the world. It provides direct employment to over 35 million people and is the second largest provider of employment after agriculture. The Indian textile industry is set for strong growth, buoyed by both rising domestic consumption as well as export demand. The potential size of the country’s textile and apparel industry is expected to reach $221 billion by 2021, according to Technopak. Garment exports from India are expected to touch $60 billion over the next three years, with due government support.
With the increase in investments in the Indian textile sector, the subsequent increase in industrial production and the positivity observed by the textile sector have resulted in progress and development of the sector. Integrating the sectoral needs with technical advancements will completely modernise the industry chains across the country, along with continued investments assisting in reaping benefits for the Indian textile sector.
The fortunes of the textile industry being on an upswing, there are enough opportunities for aspirants who wish to pursue a career in this industry, more so as a textile engineer. The textile industry is currently undergoing rapid modernisation and technological changes, resulting in enhanced demand for graduates with skills in engineering, design, computers, management, marketing, sales and quality control. One of the most sought after professionals in the industry are textile engineers whose job is to find new synthetic materials, fabrics and textures, incorporate new technologies and design new uses for the existing textiles.
Textile institutes in India have contributed immensely to the talent pool in the industry and there is an increasing demand for qualified professionals. As part of our efforts to further improve the talent in the industry, we will be featuring some of the leading institutes offering professional courses on textile and fashion as a subject. We start this series with Bannari Amman Institute of Technology (BIT), one of the leading educational institutions from the southern part of India.
“There are two educations – one that teaches how to make a living and the other teaches how to live”, says Mr. Anthony de Mello, Chairman of BIT.
Founded by Dr. S.V. Balasubramaniam, the Department of Textile Technology at BIT was established in 1996 to offer a 4-year B.Tech. Textile Technology programme which is accredited by AICTE, New Delhi. The Department also offers Ph.D. & M.S. (by Research) programmes. The faculties members have rich teaching, research and industrial experience. They have published more than 250 papers in leading national and international journals including Refereed.
The spacious laboratories are well equipped with state-of-the-art facilities in yarn manufacture, fabric manufacture, textile chemical processing and textile testing. The Department has undertaken five sponsored projects worth Rs. 65 lakhs from DBT, DST, DRDO and AICTE. Its library has a good collection of books and journals with Internet connection, besides the central library facility.
BIT’s mission is to build and nurture a new generation of technologists who can be the future leaders of textile industry, by providing quality education. It aims to empower the Indian textile incorporation through powering the students by imparting competence to face the challenges with knowledge of technical, career development, societal and life-long learning capabilities.
Textile technology
The B.Tech Textile Technology Program helps understand the basic concepts of manufacturing of textile material for apparel and technical applications and select fibre materials for different kinds of textile and apparel manufacturing, understand various technological systems of manufacturing of textile material and apply them for the development of new processes and products, comprehend the customer yarns and fabric needs and produce the appropriate textile material, analyze the data regarding process control and quality requirements of textile and apparel materials, and understand the management responsibilities related to issues such as social, ethical, environmental and personnel aspects of the textile industry.
At the end of the program the graduates will become familiar with fundamentals of various science and technology subjects and thus acquire the capability to applying them. They will be able to apply the basic concepts to design and translate the design into prototype/product and also to analyze and interpret data related to textile design, manufacturing and quality analysis. They will also be able to demonstrate their ability to solve technical problems via technical approaches, self study, team work and life-long learning approaches. The graduates will have requisite laboratory skills and will become familiar with the use of various modern analytical equipments. This, in turn, would make them be knowledgeable for future research aspirations.
Fashion technology
To cater to the ever-increasing requirements of the garment industry, a 4-year B.Tech. Textile Technology (Fashion Technology) programme was started by BIT in 2004 to develop qualified, skilled and competent technologists to take up ever-demanding challenges of the apparel industry.
The curriculum is drawn with thought-provoking concepts in the field of garment designing, manufacturing, apparel-fashion designing and merchandising, quality assurance, etc., with greater emphasis on engineering aspects involving basic science, engineering and textile technology concepts. This is accomplished through the dedicated efforts of a team of highly qualified and learned faculty, experts from the apparel industry, and the state-of-the-art laboratories equipped with latest software, hardware, equipment and machinery.
The Department also provides a practical training both in-house and in industry, so that the graduates confidently enter the industry with the latest knowledge of events that happen in the ever-changing apparel industry worldwide.
“Libraries store the energy that fuels imagination. They open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life” – Sidney Sheldon
The new Learning Center
The new Learning Centre of the institute, built to international standards, spreads over to ground plus four floors with an area of 78,341 sq.ft. Further, the Center’s functions are automated with the state-of-the-art RFID Library Management System for its day-to-day transactions and for security purpose. The library has a collection of over 75,000 books and technical journals.
The Learning Centre plays a pivotal role in the process of promoting and demonstrating a desire for information, knowledge and understanding among the students, and so aiding them in the development of their professional, personal and spiritual lives. It inspires and supports students, faculty, researchers and the staff in all facets of their pursuits to dream, learn, create and share knowledge and provides access to a wide array of technical ideas and information.
Relying on its highly skilled staff, the Learning Centre encourages innovation, capitalises on appropriate technologies, forges effective partnerships, and unequivocally promotes excellence among the vibrant generation.
BIT works closely with the industry to train and recruit students. The company has signed an MoU with Dystar and Advanced Academy for Development of Textile Technologists to train and recruit the students in Textile Chemical Processing. BIT has also signed an MoU with Lectra to provide training to the students in CAD software related to textiles and garments.
With the excellent future prospects for the Indian textile industry, BIT has played and will continue to play a pivotal role in educating, nurturing and building the much-required talent pool, which is the backbone of the industry.