NITRA (North India Textile Research Association) is a pillar in the Indian textile industry that has served India

for more than 30 years now. The industry that serves to the be the second largest employment generating sector for skilled and non skilled workers in the country. Textile industry is one of the oldest industries and has a formidable presence in the national economy as at contributes a major portion to the GDP of the country. It also contributes about 15 per cent of manufacturing value-addition, accounts for around onethird of our gross export earnings and provides gainful employment to millions of people. The textile industry occupies a unique place in our country. It also contributes to nearly 30% of the total exports and is the second largest employment generator after agriculture. Research and development has played a critical role in the advancement of textile industry in the country. It was predominantly unorganized but it was after 1991 that textile industry got a new meaning and boast. Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) is one of the prime textile research institutes in the country. The textile industry and Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India jointly established NITRA in 1974 for conducting applied scientific research and providing support services to Indian textile industry. The organization is situated in a 50 acre land at NCR Ghaziabad, near national capital New Delhi. NITRAs has been a key player in various activities and since its inception it has extended its portfolio in folds. The activities involves research & development, technical consultancy, quality evaluation of materials, manpower training and publishing technical books and papers. NITRA also provides facilitating services to the decentralized powerloom sector through its seven centres located at Tanda, Kanpur, Meerut, Gorakhpur (all in U.P.), Panipat (Haryana), Ludhiana (Punjab) and Bhilwara (Rajasthan). Nitra has always adhered to the fact and understood the value of the textile research and proliferation as the sector provides one of the most basic needs of people and hence holds significant importance. At Nitra the philosophy is to maintain sustained growth and quality of textile for improving quality of life. Today Textile industry has a unique position in the country because of associations such as Nitra which renders multifarious services to textile & apparel industry through its rich in-house manpower resource of more than fifty experienced technical personnel comprising of textile technologist, textile chemist, garment technologist, textile designer, fashion designer, analytical chemist, mechanical engineer, electrical & electronics engineer, civil engineer, environmental engineer, software / IT specialist & management experts. It is the hard and genuine work of organization like Nitra that, Textile industry remains to be a self-reliant industry, from the production of raw materials to the delivery of finished products, with substantial value-addition at each stage of processing; it is a major contribution to the country's economy. This enables Indian textile industry to be established as one of the largest in the world with a massive raw material and textiles manufacturing base. Our economy is largely dependent on the textile manufacturing and trade in addition to other major industries. About 27% of the foreign exchange earnings are on account of export of textiles and

clothing alone. To read more about Nitra: http://nitratextile.org