SITRA Plans 80-Crore Green Textile Processing Project for Tiruppur
08 July 2026: The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) has proposed an 80-crore green textile processing project to help Tiruppur’s garment and made-up exporters cut water and salt use in dyeing and finishing. The plan centres on a new Centre of Excellence in Tiruppur, linked to a common effluent treatment plant, and additional R&D support at SITRA’s Coimbatore campus.
Why SITRA is proposing the project
Tiruppur is one of India’s most important garment manufacturing hubs and a major export centre. As western buyers tighten sustainability requirements, processors are under pressure to reduce water use, chemical load and waste from dyeing operations. SITRA Director Dr. Prakash Vasudevan said that the proposed project would set up a Centre of Excellence in Tiruppur while strengthening research and development facilities at SITRA’s Coimbatore campus. The Centre is expected to come up on 2-3 acres and connect with a common effluent treatment plant (CETP), so processing units attached to the CETP can use the technologies developed through the centre.
What the Centre of Excellence will do
The project is designed to support plant-level adoption of cleaner processing methods. SITRA has already worked on saltless dyeing and is also pursuing waterless dyeing research. These technologies matter because conventional textile dyeing can consume large quantities of water and salt, creating high treatment loads for effluent systems.
For exporters, the timing is significant. Buyers in Europe and other western markets increasingly ask suppliers to prove lower environmental impact across production. A shared technology centre could help smaller and mid-sized units access research, testing and process improvements that may otherwise be difficult to fund individually.
Industry backing
The proposal has received support from the apparel export sector. Dr. A. Sakthivel, Chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council, urged Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh to support a Centre of Excellence for green processing during the Minister’s recent Tiruppur visit.
About SITRA ….
SITRA, based in Coimbatore, was established in 1956 and is supported by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, and the textile industry. Its work includes textile R&D, testing, consultancy, calibration, professional training and inter-firm studies. If supported by government funding, the Tiruppur project could become a shared platform for cleaner, export-ready textile processing.
