TechnoSport Commits INR 4.5 Crore to Sports Textile Research
31 October 2026: TechnoSport has committed INR 4.5 crore over three years under an agreement with AIC IIT Delhi to establish a sports textile research centre at IIT Delhi’s Sonipat campus in Haryana. The collaboration, reported on 16 September 2026, aims to develop performance sportswear around Indian athletes’ needs and sporting conditions. T-CREST, the TechnoSport Center for Research and Entrepreneurship in Sports Textile, will combine the company’s textile manufacturing and product-development experience with IIT Delhi’s scientific and engineering capabilities. The company said the three-year funding would cover research, prototyping and capability building. The work also includes development of specialised expertise and industry-academia collaboration, with product commercialisation as an objective.
What will the sports textile research cover ?
The programme aims to study how materials and garment engineering influence athletic performance, comfort and recovery. Researchers will examine interactions between the athlete, sport, environment and garment, with athletes, coaches, textile scientists and sports-science specialists contributing to research and validation.
Recently, TechnoSport Co-Founder and Managing Director Sunil Jhunjhunwala said the centre would initially target endurance running, badminton, cricket, volleyball and soccer. The aim is to develop products for athletes competing at national and international levels before taking the technologies into consumer products.
Turning research into commercial sportswear
TechnoSport CEO Puspen Maity said the partnership would focus on converting textile technologies into commercially viable products. He described a role for manufacturing, market knowledge and consumer demand in taking an idea through development to a saleable product.
Jhunjhunwala described T-CREST as a long-term investment and said he did not expect an immediate revenue impact. He also outlined potential support for start-ups through TechnoSport’s manufacturing, retail, distribution and online infrastructure. Jhunjhunwala said options could include buying a start-up’s product, co-developing products or building brands together.
An incubation base at Sonipat
FITT’s official description identifies AIC IIT Delhi as an organisation created by FITT and IIT Delhi at the Sonipat campus under NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission.
The collaboration also plans to bring IIT Delhi faculty, students, researchers and innovators together with TechnoSport’s research and product teams. Alongside apparel development, the partners aim to support sports-technology ventures and develop specialists in performance textiles, according to the collaboration announcement.
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