The 46th India International Knit Fair organised by the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) and India Knit Fair Association (IKFA), was inaugurated at the IKFA Complex here on Wednesday.

Kumar Jayant, Principal Secretary, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi Department, inaugurated the three-day fair in the presence of A. Sakthivel, chairman, IKFA.

Mr. Sakthivel told presspersons that the fair was organised in the backdrop of the current economic tensions between the U.S. and China. Predicting that the situation will be an “advantage for the Indian knitwear sector,” the IKFA chairman said, “even if orders worth ₹ 10,000 crore are placed, it will benefit India.”

The fair has a total of 36 stalls put up by exporters mostly from Tiruppur, with notable exceptions from New Delhi, Noida and Ludhiana. Mr. Jayant visited the stalls after inaugurating the trade fair.

One of the stalls displayed garments made from banana fibres blended with cotton. R.S. Baalagurunathan, proprietor of Anandi Enterprises (manufacturer and exporter of cotton), said that the banana fibre garments were conceived as an alternative to linen garments.

He claimed that the garments have high moisture-absorbing capacity and have inherent anti-microbial properties unlike other garments.

A stall put up by AIC-NIFT TEA Incubation Centre for Textiles and Apparels has displayed garments coloured using natural dyes extracted from plants. S. Sudhan of New Leaf Creation, who collaborated with the incubation centre, said that infants wearing undergarments coloured using synthetic dyes are at a risk of experiencing skin rashes, hence natural dyes are an alternative in this case.

Published On : 15-05-2019

Source : The Hindu