Home > Cover Story > Story

Wind energy cheaper, better alternative for textiles

E-Tex Staff - Mumbai

“In the context of globalisation, it is important for the textile industry to be competitive. The cost of power plays a crucial role and it is essential to obtain power at low costs. Wind energy is very beneficial for this purpose.” This was stated by Dr C Chatterjee, general manager, INDEXTB, during a workshop organised by the Textiles Committee at Surat, on November 2, 2004. The workshop was jointly organised by the committee and the Surat Art Silk Cloth Manufacturers Association, South Gujarat Productivity Council and NEG.Micon;

He further elaborated that although Gujarat’s textile industry is developing, it only produces five per cent of cotton fabric, though its cotton production is 25 per cent of the total production of India. He also stated that Gujarat has a high potential for producing wind energy. The Gujarat Electricity Board buys electricity at the prevailing rate of Rs 2.60 per unit. The government has also ruled out buying electricity from a third party at present but in future it may consider the option.

According to experts, grazing lands, etc can be used for wind energy. The remaining wasteland can be cultivated with ‘Jetropha Cussus’, which is an alternative for diesel. INDEXTb has prepared reports of wind energy and bio-fuel, which can be obtained from the productivity council. The president of SGCCI, Mr Dinesh Mandalaywala said that this is a unique way for the diversification of Surat. He praised this workshop for keeping up with the times. Tamil Nadu has obtained the full benefit and Gujarat should not be far behind in wind energy.

Speaking about the cluster approach to development of the textile industry, the Textiles Committee director and Cluster Development National Coordinator, Mr D P Jadeja said, “Building the competitive strength and capacity of the textile SMEs to face post-quota challenges is the basic aims of the Textiles Committee Cluster Development Programme. This requires trust-bulding, vision based action plan, networking and cooperation. Improvement in quality, productivity, skills development, marketing, cost reduction, technology upgradation, etc are the issues addressed through this approach. Surat’s textile industry should avail all these benefits under the cluster programme.”

Mr Arvind Prasad, general manager, NEG Micon, said that wind energy played an important role in Tamil Nadu industrial growth. This energy is pollution-free and wind will always be available freely. NEG Micon works on turnkey basis and started getting returns on its investments within a few months.