Following the signing of an agreement roughly two years ago between ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, and the DKTE’S Textile & Engineering Institute of Ichalkaranji in Kolhapur district, an Italian textile technology training center was recently opened at Ichalkaranji in the presence of the ACIMIT President, Raffaella Carabelli, and its Director, Federico Pellegata.
The project which, among other initiatives, provides transfer of equipment on loan from the Italian manufacturers for a maximum of three years as well as training courses, includes participation of three of ACIMIT’s associated members – BIANCO, FADIS and SAVIO – during the first stage.
Co-ordinated by a workgroup formed by ACIMIT and its Indian counterpart, Rare Tech Projects, the project will be responsible for organizing all on-site activities. The initiatives planned include a mission to Italy in November consisting of DKTE’S professors and Indian textile operators associated with the institution.
The technology training center is part of the broader Machines Italia project financed by the Ministry for Economic Development (MiSE), whose organization has been entrusted to Federmacchine, the Italian Federation of Capital Goods Manufacturers. The goal of the Machines Italia project is to support the internationalization of businesses in the sector in one of the world’s most intensely developing economies.
“With the technology training center becoming operative”, commented Raffaella Carabelli, “our sector is laying the foundation for future business opportunities in a market that is already important for the majority of our machinery manufacturers.”
Indeed, the Indian market ranks third as an export destination, with 28 million euros worth of machinery exported in the first quarter of 2014.
Carabelli added: “I’m certain this initiative will provide a positive return in terms of image, not only for individual Italian businesses participating by supplying machinery, but for Italy’s textile machinery sector as a whole.”
At the inauguration of the training center, three Indian students whose researches on the textile machinery sector were deemed prize-worthy by ACIMIT-DTKE’s jury were presented awards.
Mr. Prakash Awade, former Minister for Textiles, said: “This center will be the first bridge between Italy and India in the field of textile technologies/machines. It is a very positive initiative which will further bring awareness of Italian technologies to the textile industry in this region”.
Prof. Dr. P.V. Kadole, DKTE Principal, observed: “It is a great satisfaction as the students will get a first-hand experience on the Italian machines. This center will be an important point of reference for our faculty and students”.
He added: “The students of DKTE will now be directly exposed to the state-of-the-art of the Italian technology and it will further enhance our skills for research and development projects. The students will be the future brand ambassadors of these machines and will take a message to the industry upon their employment in a few years”.
ACIMIT represents an industrial sector comprising around 300 companies employing close to 11,000 people and producing machinery for an overall value of about 2.3 billion euros, with exports amounting to 84 per cent of total sales. The quality of Italian textile technology is evidenced by the export of Italian machinery to around 130 countries worldwide.