The Bombay Textile Research Association (BTRA) is an approved body for Testing, Research and Development in the field of textiles receiving non plan grants from the Ministry of Textile Government of India. BTRA has excellent infrastructure such as modern pilot plants, sophisticated instruments for testing and the laboratories are accredited as per ISO 17025 standards. BTRA is extensively working in the area of nonwovens / technical textiles. Based on earlier experience, expertise and facilities, BTRA is recognized as a Centre of Excellence for Geotech by Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India. BTRA is the only TRA having accreditation to international Geosynthetic Accreditation Institute GAI-LAP and is the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for geotextiles testing and certifications.
About Snehal Dhamdhere
Snehal Dhamdhere is the marketing head at BTRA. She has 20 years of experience in Textile testing and lab operations, business development, customer service and marketing.
What are the recent developments at your COE?
As a COE in Geosynthetic, we always upgrade our testing facility as per BIS, MORTH, International standard. We have developed a new testing facility in geosynthetic in our Lab. We are also arranging quality training programs to geo manufacturers for upgradation.
Tell us about your Research & Development programmes that are going on?
Some of the ongoing Projects of BTRA:
1. Antimicrobial finish by nanoparticles
2. Sustainable Aroma finish on Textiles
3.Sustainable natural dyeing on cotton and silk
4. Treatment of Textile wastewater
5. Plasma mediated improvement of adhesion in Polymeric materials
Do you have any collaborations with institutes that teach textile technology? How can the students benefit from your COE?
We have collaborations with ICT, VJTI, JD institute, Bangalore and such other colleges/institutes. We organize visits, training, practical knowledge and demonstration of industry tours to students to upgrade their knowledge .We also arrange certified need base/ requirement training related textile to students.
Do you have any initiatives for entrepreneurs, skill development and training?
The Bombay Textile Research Association [BTRA] conducts training and development activities regularly in textile manufacturing processes and testing of textiles. It offers need-based training programmes/ refresher courses/basic courses to executives [from marketing/ commercial/ personnel], students, shop-floor technicians/operators and seasoned technocrats. Also, BTRA offers structured training programmes to suit the special needs of the personnel from the textile industry.
Tell us about the market for technical textile, what are the current trends going on?
The current Indian technical textiles market is estimated at $ 19 Bn, growing at a CAGR of 12% since past five years. Technical textiles have seen an upward trend globally in the recent years due to improving economic conditions. In recent years, nanotechnology is playing an important role in developing new textile materials.
Tell us about biodegradable/ sustainable raw materials that can be used for packaging?
In India, with an economy on the boom and disposable income on the rise, the generation of packaging and consumer waste has grown manifold. But that type of waste is generally non-biodegradable and a potential environmental issue. Hence the need of the hour is recycling resulting in an eco-friendly fiber like Recron® Green is a result of processing post consumer waste into new products to prevent wastage of potentially useful materials and resources. These are biodegradable and sustainable. Similar biodegradable material can be developed at BTRA. BTRA also develope such type of biodegradable product.