T
he 8th India International Textile Machinery Exhibition (India ITME 2008) will take place
November 15-22 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC). Organized by the India ITME
Society, the exhibition has been held every four years since 1980 and is the largest textile
machinery exhibition in India.
Supporting the India ITME Society in its efforts to put on the exhibition are the Textile
Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (India) (TMMA), the Indian Textile Accessories and Machinery
Manufacturers’ Association (ITAMMA), the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, The Textile
Association (India) and the Bureau of Indian Standards.
As noted by India ITME Society Chairman Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu, the textile industry has
demonstrated resilience over the years since India ITME 2004, with substantial growth in global
capacity related to spindles, open-end rotors, shuttle and shuttleless looms, and finishing. A
geographic shift within the global industry has benefited textile manufacturers in India, China,
Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Turkey and other developing countries the society has
targeted in its promotional efforts.
Organizers expect some 900 exhibitors, including 500 from India and 400 from more than 30
countries abroad, will show their products and services to more than 125,000 visitors during India
ITME 2008. These totals would eclipse the previous show’s 748 exhibitors and 120,000 visitors and
continue the steady growth in participation since the inaugural India ITME, which featured
offerings from 124 exhibitors and attracted 25,000 visitors. According to the India ITME Society,
registered exhibitors include all the major textile machinery, parts and accessory manufacturers in
India as well as all the major textile technology suppliers from abroad.
The new Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) offers state-of-the-art facilities
on its 40-acre campus. Photo courtesy of BIEC
The exhibition will offer newly manufactured textile machinery and accessories in addition
to related products and services including:
• spinning preparation, man-made fiber production, spinning, winding,
texturing, twisting, and auxiliary machinery and accessories;
• nonwovens and felting web formation, bonding and finishing, and
technical textiles-related machinery and accessories;
• weaving preparatory, weaving, tufting and auxiliary machinery and
accessories;
• knitting and hosiery and auxiliary machinery and accessories;
• washing, bleaching, dyeing, printing, drying, finishing, make-up and
auxiliary machinery and accessories;
• embroidery and braiding machinery and accessories;
• machinery and accessories for the making-up industry;
• testing and measuring equipment;
• transport, handling, storing and packing equipment;
• recycling, waste-reduction and pollution-prevention equipment and
accessories;
• design, data-monitoring, processing and integrated production software;
• textile industry-related goods and services; and
• technical information sources.
India ITME 2008 will provide visitors with opportunities to learn about the latest
technological developments in textile machinery. In addition to seminars and conferences organized
by TMMA, ITAMMA and The Textile Association, certain exhibitors will make special presentations of
their newest technologies; and live machinery demonstrations will be scheduled during the course of
the exhibition.
India ITME 2004, held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, featured 748 exhibitors.
BIEC: A New Location
BIEC is a new venue for India ITME, which was held in Mumbai at the Bombay Exhibition Centre
for the four previous editions. The new Bangalore center offers state-of-the-art facilities
including 40,000 square meters of exhibition space in three halls in addition to other facilities
located on a 40-acre campus near Bangalore’s Peenya industrial township. It is the first “green
project” of such a size in India, featuring building design that takes advantage of natural
lighting for most daytime lighting needs, a vast rainwater-harvesting system, water-based adiabatic
cooling and a chlorofluorocarbon-free air-conditioning system, and inclusion of 50-percent waste
material in the form of fly ash in the concrete mix used in the center’s construction, among other
eco-friendly features. It also features the latest high-tech equipment and support services for
conferences and business-to-business events.
The city of Bangalore, capital of the state of Karnataka in southern India, is the most
prosperous and third-largest city in the country, with a population of more than 7 million, and a
major center of high-tech activity – particularly information technology, on account of which it is
known as the Silicon Valley of India. But in addition, it is important as a center of garment
manufacturing and, thus, also has been dubbed the garment capital of India and the fashion capital
of the East. Just this summer, the government of Karnataka proposed the building of 11 textile
parks throughout the state – including a 50-acre high-tech weaving park in Bangalore – in order to
further the growth of the textile industry in the state.
September/October 2008