The Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association (commonly known as ATIRA) is an

autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

association for textile research located in the Navarangpura area of Ahmedabad,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is the largest association for textile research and allied industries in India. Established on 13 December 1947, and started in 1949, ATIRA was recognized by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research under the Ministry of Science and Technology,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. It was later linked to the Ministry of Textiles.

Establishment

Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association building (15 05 2006)

The idea of ATIRA was conceived by

Vikram Sarabhai Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (12 August 1919 – 30 December 1971) was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped develop nuclear power in India. He was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan ...

Kasturbhai Lalbhai Kasturbhai Lalbhai (19 December 1894 – 20 January 1980) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He co-founded the Arvind Mills along with his brothers and several other institutes. He was a cofounder of the Ahmadabad Education Soci ...

and

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar OBE, FNI, FASc, FRS, FRIC, FInstP (21 February 1894 – 1 January 1955) was an Indian colloid chemist, academic and scientific administrator. The first director-general of the Council of Scientific and Indust ...

. ATIRA was founded in 1947. Vikram Sarabhai served as its first honorary director.

ATIRA Complex

The foundation stone for the ATIRA complex was laid by

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

on 1 November 1950 which was inaugurated by the then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

on completion on 10 April 1954. The architect of the ATIRA building is

Achyut Kanvinde Achyut Purushottam Kanvinde (9 February 1916 – 28 December 2002) was an Indian architect who worked in functionalist approaches with elements of Brutalist architecture. He received the Padma Shri in 1974. Early life and education He was bor ...

. The exterior of the building are influenced by

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

Membership and funding

Membership in ATIRA is voluntary. ATIRA has 146 member units in both India and abroad. Of these 93 are

Ginning A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

, Spinning,

Weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

, Process Houses and Composite Textile Units and 53 are manufacturers of fibres, dyes, chemicals, instruments, equipment and machinery. ATIRA is financed by four sources – Annual Subscription from member units, income from the services it has rendered, sponsored research from the Industry, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Information Technology and other agencies like the Gujarat State Government. Grant aid is also provided by the Government of India.

Administration

ATIRA's governing council consists of 17 members. It consists of 5 elected members from the industry, including the Chairman, 3 nominated members from various departments of Government of India and 3 scientists as designated members. In addition to these a representative from the associate members and the president of the Ahmedabad Textile Mills Association are also the members of the council. The 4 Directors of Cotton Textile Research Associations are

ex-officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

members including the Director of ATIRA. At present the association has a total membership of 91 units spread all over India. This consists of 10 original or privileged members units and 81 Associate Members units.

Location

ATIRA is situated close to many prominent research and educational institutions like

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) is the world's number 1 business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The school has been accorded the status of an Institute of National Importance by Ministry of Human Resourc ...

Physical Research Laboratory The Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) is a National Research Institute for space and allied sciences, supported mainly by Department of Space, Government of India. This research laboratory has ongoing research programmes in astronomy and astrop ...

and

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by NA ...

. It has a 2,72,000-square-metre campus which has a plant coverage of over 1,000 trees. This has made it a popular spot for morning walks and jogging among local residents.

External links

References

{{Ahmedabad topics Organizations established in 1947 Organisations based in Ahmedabad Business organisations based in India 1947 establishments in India Ministry of Textiles Science and technology in Gujarat Textile industry associations Textile industry in Gujarat Textile organizations