Mr. Amit V. Pathak, Senior Executive Technical Service, Rossari Biotech Ltd. presented the paper on “Low Temperature Bleaching – The New Trend” in absence of Mr. Edward Menezes, Managing Director, Rossari Bio-tech Ltd. Rossari developed suitable metal complex catalyst to incorporate in Hydrogen Peroxide bleaching to reduce bath temperature to 70 to 80 deg. C from conventional 100 to 120 deg C. It helps to adopt eco-friendly processing by reducing carbon dioxide emissions through lesser consumption of fuel required. It imparts smoother surface profile, lesser weight loss & high brilliancy to bleached fabric.

Dr. Ashok Athalye, General Manager – Technical Service, Atul Limited-Colors Division presented the paper on “Challenges and Developments in Reactive dyeing of Cotton”. According to Dr. Athalye 62% of Reactive dyes are used for Cotton dyeing in world scenario. Atul has developed Tulactiv C & CC in Reactive dyes range for excellent compatibility, less water & energy consumption, robust & good for RFT. Tularevs XL are for economical deep shades.

Mr. Anand Apte, Managing Director, Waste Encare (India) Pvt. Ltd. presented the paper on “Pollution Control Systems for Textile Processing Industries – Conserving Natural Resources”. Mr. Anand Apte has talked about 3R’s for Waste Water Management-Reduce, Recycle & Reuse after treatment. He pointed out that for safe disposal, Primary, Secondary & Tertiary treatment of effluent are essential. Disinfection, Reverse Osmosis & Multiple Effect of Evaporation are must for Re-use of water. For Air Management, Industrial Emissions shall be scrabbed. Particular emission system and use of biomass suggested.

Mr. Sateesh Gore, Director, Electron Group presented the paper on “Innovative Printing Inks for Textiles Fabrics”. Mr. Sateesh Gore in his presentation emphasis more on innovative styles of printing on cotton & its blended fabric for value addition & to fulfill increased fashion trend. Some novel effects in pigment printing using different binders were discussed. Foam Printing and Digital Printing are in practice among different styles explained.

The main attraction of the Seminar was the ‘Panel Discussion’ moderated by Dr. G. S. Nadiger, Research Advisor, BTRA with his Panel Members team selected from MIDC, SIDBI, Waste Encare, etc. Dr. Nadiger said that a cluster means an activity having lot of similarity in terms of technical operations and production of end product. In this context, Dombivli could be treated as cluster of textile processing. Although a discussion has been made in addressing issues pertaining to the cluster, it is worthwhile to do a detailed diagnostic study to identify various issues related in the supply chain i.e. Quality related problems, Manpower related issues, Technology related issues, Infrastructure related issues and Marketing issues. While concluding, he suggested making use of training, testing and technical services of BTRA. If industry association collectively approaches BTRA, they may consider a concession for availing these facilities.

Smt. Farogh Mukadam, Deputy Collector & Regional Officer, Thane, MIDC covered background about development of MIDC in Maharashtra, Importance given by MIDC on issues related to safety, particularly fire safety. Each industry should comply with the fire safety norms which are available on MIDC and other websites. She also observed that Dombivli cluster is still in Gram panchayat area and Gram panchayats are financially unsound to tackle waste water disposal & CETP’s issues. Also, Gram panchayats are not included in municipal corporations developmental work.

Mr. S. V. Soudagar, Consultant expressed his views for technical upgradation in Panel Discussion. According to him minimising redyeing, feasible automation and processes to keep low effluent load are important areas to be considered. Analysis of incoming grey fabric as well as dyes chemicals, auxiliaries, tanker water, etc is essential. The standardisation at each stage of processing is must. RFT index should be calculated to monitor performance. Dispensing systems, batch wise process controlled automatically are also needed to avoid human errors. Low liquor ratio, RFT approach, caustic recovery, ultra RGB (DyStar) suggested to reduce COD & TDS in effluents. Enzymes for desizing and scouring help to reduce effluent load.

Mr. Anand Apte, Managing Director, Waste Encare (India) Pvt. Ltd. expressed that ETP’s Should be considered as integral part of overall development and not in isolation. Complying with MPCB norms is essential. He mentioned that there is an absolute need for conserving water as it is being very essential natural resource. For this minimization of consumption of water is to be practised as textile industry uses large amount of water. Due to implementation of waste minimization practices existing waste water treatment facilities can be utilised without any upgradation although there is an expansions at industry level. No extra capital and operating expenditure is required.

Mr. Anil Kulkarni, Dy. General Manager, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), briefed about the benefits & products provided by the SIDBI for the small industries. It’s the nodal agency for TUF’s and other schemes for MSME’s. Cluster based proposals if any, could be considered by SIDBI in terms of technology upgradation or setting up of new enterprises.

The organizers of the seminar were happy to note that the objectives of the seminar were fully achieved.

Dr. (Mrs.) Sujata S. Pariti, Adjunct Professor, Department of Fibers and Textile Processing Technology, UICT compared the whole seminar commendably.

At the end, Mr. A. V. Mantri, Hon. Secretary, TAI, Mumbai Unit proposed a vote of the thanks.

The Seminar was grand success and was attended by over 150 participants.