(Photo: From Left to Right- Prof. Bipin Kumar, Major General (retd.) Ashim Kohli, Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Dr Anil Wali, MD, FITT)

New Delhi: An IIT Delhi startup SWATRIC has collaborated with the Flag Foundation of India to develop a top-notch and advanced textile solution for the national flag of the country. An MoU was recently signed between the FITT, IIT Delhi and the Foundation to execute the associated research and development activities via the startup. 

On January 26, 2002, the Indian citizens were permitted to fly the national flag throughout the year. In a historic judgment on January 23, 2004, the Supreme Court of India held that the right to fly the national flag freely, with respect and dignity, is a fundamental right.

Given India’s diverse climatic and geographical conditions, designing and developing engineered fabric for the flag is a big challenge. The flag’s materials have to be selected and designed specifically to make it durable for extreme weather conditions without being too heavy.

Prof. Bipin Kumar, Textile and Fibre Engineering Dept., IIT Delhi & Mentor, SWATRIC said, “It is the need of the hour to help manufacturers with a proper standardization and core subject knowledge or skills on technical yarns and fabrics to improve the quality of the flag fabric.”

The Flag Foundation of India is a non-governmental organization, registered under the society’s registration act of 1980. It has a primary vision to popularize the display of the Tiranga (tricolor flag) by more and more Indians, with a great sense of pride.

Speaking of the MoU with IIT Delhi, Major General (retd.) Ashim Kohli, CEO, Flag Foundation of India, said, “We have always been facing a challenge of obtaining good quality flags. It is indeed a proud moment for us to work with IIT Delhi’s experts on developing appropriate technologies, which are relevant to the country’s pride.”

SWATRIC, the startup by the researchers from the Institute’s Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering, is working to develop state-of-the-art technologies to help Indian domestic textile and garment industries in commercializing new and competitive categories of the smart and functional products.

Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi hailed the collaboration between the IIT Delhi researchers and the Flag Foundation of India and said, “India has the potential to be the global leader in technical textiles. The Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering at IIT Delhi has been constantly working in the field of smart and functional textile projects, actively supporting the National Technical Textiles Mission to empower Indian Textile sector through 'Make in India' technologies for various applications ranging from geotextiles, defence, sportswear, smart wearables, medical, composites, transport, protection, packaging, etc.”.

For more information, please visit: http://swatric.com/; https://flagfoundationofindia.in/  

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