annual report 2018-2019 -.:: Indian Jute Industries' Research ...

ANNUAL REPORT2018-2019

17, Taratala Road, Kolkata – 700 088Telephone : + 91 (33) 66269 200 | 66269 229 | 66269 241

Fax : +91 33 66269204 | 66269227 E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.ijira.org

C O N T E N T S

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Section - I : Areas of Work & Achievements 5 Important Areas of Work and Achievements during the year 2018-2019

Section - II : Activities in North - East Region 17 Activities of IJIRA – North Eastern Regional Centre (NERC) and Power-loom Service Centre (PSC), Guwahati

Section - III : R & D Activities 27 NJB, MoT & IJMA Funded Projects and Pre-project Activities

Section - IV Centre of Excellence Activities 63 Techno Economic Viability (TEV) Study, DPR-II Preparation, Organization of Workshops and JGT Applications

Section - V : Machine Development/Technology Transfer 71 & Technical Services

Section - VI : Organizational Highlights 83

Section - VII : Annexures 89

I - IJIRA Council of Management & its Committees 91

II - Representation of IJIRA in Outside Committees 95

III - Seminars, Conferences, Meetings, Workshops & Visits 96

IV - Publications 103

Section - VIII : Financial Report : 2018-2019 105

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Jute is Eco-Friendly and Renewable Source of Energy

IJIRA Annual Report 2018-19


5 |IJIRA Annual Report 2018-19

SECTION I

Areas of Work&

Achievements(2018-19)

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q Brief Introduction on IJIRA

Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association (IJIRA), registered under West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961, is an autonomous Co-operative Research Organization, Under the Ministry of Taxtiles, Govt. of India. located in Kolkata. It has started its journey in the year 1937. It is the first cooperative R&D institute, established by Jute Industry in India.

IJIRA is governed by a Council, headed by the Chairman and comprises of 24 members, representing the jute industry, government officials, eminent professionals and directors of renowned institutions. The Director of the Institute is appointed by the Council and is the Principal Executive Officer of the Association exercising general power of supervision and coordinating overall activities of the Association. The Director, IJIRA is essentially the Director-cum Member Secretary of the Association.

IJIRA has a North Eastern Regional Centre (NERC) at Guwahati, Assam to promote Jute based industry and diversified Jute Products more effectively in that region. It has also a Power-Loom Service Centre (PSC) at Guwahati under the Office of the Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India. It has a full-fledged Garment Manufacturing Training Centre (GMTC) too, at PSC, Guwahati.

Under the present funding pattern of Government of India, IJIRA has been endeavouring to change its traditional work culture to a new age of activities in the areas of :

l Commercialization of proven technologiesl Bridging gaps between R&D and the industrial requirementl Catering to changing needs of industry and marketl Improving income by rendering more technical services to industriesl Increasing testing and certification activity to improve revenue earningl Intervention of new machineries for better quality and production

q MembershipAt present IJIRA has 72 Primary Members and 5 Associate Members.

q Activities of IJIRA during 2018-20191. Research and Development on

l Improved and accelerated retting technology for jute plantl Quality up-gradation of jute fibresl New machineries for producing better quality and productionl Bio-chemical processing of fibres and fabrics and its commercializationl Design and development of diversified jute productsl Development of Jute Geotextiles and its promotion

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l Development of Jute reinforced composite products and their commercializationl Development of instruments for quality control

2. Productivity improvement in Jute Sector

3. Promotionof jute geotextiles in the NER as Centre of Excellence

4. Consultancy for

l Mechanical processing of natural fibre based textiles

l Chemical / Bio-chemical processing / Environmental aspects

l Technical textiles (Jute Geotextile, Jute Agrotextile, Packtech, Mobiltech, Buildtech etc.) and their promotion and commercialization

5. Compliance of eco-standards and environmental aspects

6. Technology transfer to jute mills

7. Quality assurance of Food Grade Jute Products (FGJP) and other value added jute items

8. Assistance to National Jute Board (NJB) and Office of the Jute Commissioner for assessment of Jute Mills’ Modernization Programme

9. Implementation of IJIRA-NERC Project :

l Field level demonstration of technologies (in NE states of India)

l Cluster based technology development for decentralized sector

l Technical services through physical, chemical and eco-laboratory

l Setting up of focussed Incubation Centre for digital printing and jute polymer composite.

10. Entrepreneurship development programme in:

l Power-loom sector of Assam

l Small-scale sector for Jute Diversified Products

11. Quality assurance for relief materials procured by Disaster Management Department, Govt. of West Bengal

12. Testing and certification services

13. Standardization of Jute Products with BIS



14. IT applications and Management Information System

15. IPR on newly developed technologies

16. Dissemination of information of new R&D activities, events through publication of research papers, patents, newsletter and technical notes and participation in exhibitions and seminars

17. Inspection of A-Twill and B-Twill jute bags to be supplied to Govt. of India

q Ongoing R&D activities by IJIRA

R&D Projects

Presently IJIRA is carrying out thirteen R&D projects; twelve sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India and one sponsored by the National Jute Board. Followings are the project-wise activities being carried out so far –

1. Design and Development of 50 kg Capacity Jute Bags considering Threshold Mechanical Properties and Physical Parameters

Through a systematic study, jute bags of 550 g have been developed by considering economical bag dimension, threshold breaking strength, optimum porosity for packing foodgrain. 29 different types of experimental bags have been prepared using normal batch for present B. T will jute bags and tested at IJIRA laboratories. From these experimental bags, both Type A and Type B bag have been finalised.

2. Utilization of Jute Sticks & Jute Waste for Extraction of Value added Chemicals for Industrial uses

Jute stick and fibre waste consisting of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin are the potentialsource of value-added chemicals like lignosulphonates, ethanol, bio-oil, bio-char and nanocellulose. Sodium lignosulphonate, bio-ethanol, bio-oil, bio-char and nanocellulose have been successfully extracted from jute sticks and jute waste at IJIRA chemical processing pilot plant. Enhancement of life of lead acid battery by sodium lignosulphonate produced from jute is under study at CECRI, Karaikudi. A fast pyrolysis plant has been installed at IJIRA pilot plant capable of producing bio-oil and bio-char from jute stick.

3. Faster Retting of jute plant through Bio-Chemical intervention

An efficient microbial consortium (IJIRA-SUBHRA) for innovative faster retting of jute plants has been characterized at CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh using 16s rRNA genetic characterization technique followed by ‘BLAST Analysis’. Identified strains are (a)Pseudomonas hunanensis (b) Lysinibacillusfudiformis (c) Mycoplanaramose.

In 2018, about 62,200 liters of IJIRA-SUBHRA produced at IJIRA Fermentation laboratory have been distributed among the farmers of various jute growing districts to carry out 5336

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field demonstration trials in 41 blocks of 8 jute growing districts of West Bengal, 1 district of Assam and 1 district of Bihar.19 farmer’s awareness programmes have been carried out in eight jute growing districts of West Bengal and more than 28,000 farmers have been registered. A farmers’ meet has been organised at IJIRA in which 45 nos. of Jute farmers representing various jute growing districts of West Bengal have participated.

More than 60 dry retting demonstration trials using IJIRA-SUBHRA have also been carried out to check the efficacy of IJIRA-SUBHRA for retting of jute plants under water limiting condition.

Successful retting of Bimli plants using IJIRA-SUBHRA has been carried out at Bobbili, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh on experimental basis.

Grading of Jute fibres obtained from conventional retting process and with IJIRA-SUBHRA has been carried out as per IS: 271-2003 at IJIRA/NINFET (National Institute of Natural Fibre Engineering and Technology), Kolkata for comparative evaluation. Most of the jute fibres retted with IJIRA- SUBHRA were found to be of better quality (TD3-TD4) and there is 1.0-1.5 grade improvement over the conventional counterpart. Commercialization of such innovative jute retting technology is in progress.

4. Biochemical Softening of Hard Root Cuttings of Jute for Better Utilization

IJIRA developed biochemical softening technology for hard root softening of jute has been transferred to 18 jute mills for production of 9.5-13.0 lbs/spy jute yarn

1. Ambica Jute Mills Ltd.,

2. Birla Jute Mills,

3. Caledonian Jute and Industries’ Ltd.,

4. Ludlow Jute &Specialities Ltd.,

5. Reliance Jute Mills,

6. Sri Krishna Jute Mills (EICC),

7. Hukumchand Jute Mills,

8. RDB Textiles (Unit: Victoria Jute Mills),

9. Kamarhatty Jute Mills,

10. Hooghly Jute Mills,

11. Dalhousie Jute Mills,

12. Uma Spinners Pvt. Ltd.,

13. The Naihati Jute Mills Co. Ltd.,

14. Premchand Jute & Industries Pvt. Ltd.,

15. Kanknarrah Co. Ltd.,



16. Empire Jute Mills,

17. Loomtex Engineering Pvt. Ltd.

18. The Empire Jute Co. Ltd.

Further commercialization of the biochemical root softening formulation is in progress.

It has been observed that biochemical root softening formulation is effective both on of hard root cutting and uncut jute for their better utilisation, thus reduces the batch cost substantially. More than 67,000 litres of biochemical root softening formulation have been supplied to user jute mills. Fermentation facilities for production of root softening formulation have been created in five jute mills under the technical guidance of IJIRA.

5. Jute - Thermoplastic Composites for Green Product Development

Jute / Caddies reinforced composite overhead water tanks have been developed by melt compounding of Jute and commodity plastics i.e. LLDPE. Almost 20% cut Jute fibre/ caddies incorporated into composites and moulding products made out of them.

Bulk quantity of the Jute-plastic composite granules has been produced and Jute reinforced composite water tanks have been prepared on commercial scale in association with an industry partner. Product has been marketed through the commercial partner.

6. Development of Standards for use of Jute Geotextiles (JGTs) in Rural Roads

Draft Completion Report of the project has been prepared based on studies which include “Recommended Design Methodology” for construction of rural roads with JGTs based on Laboratory Pavement Model study. This can be directly included in the design methodology of rural roads, namely, IRC:SP: 72-2015 to modify the same. Request has been submitted to the Project Approval and Monitoring Committee (PAMC) for giving an extension of one year, so as to monitor the application of JGT in actual field conditions. As experimental PMGSY road has been constructed using different types of JGT in Manipur of which monitoring will be carried out.

7. Development of High Speed Roller Drafting System for Improvement in Jute Drawing Frame Productivity

To examine the efficacy of the roller drafting concept in jute fibre drawing, a table top roller drafting jute finisher drawing frame has been fabricated. Comparative studies have been carried out to produce sacking warp quality yarn (9.5 lb/spy) with the slivers of standard batch quality from roller drafting jute finisher drawing frame at various speeds of 240 fpm, 270 fpm and 300 fpm and sliver from corresponding screw gill finisher drawing frame at a delivery speed of 160 fpm. It has been found that the quality of yarns produced from the sliver of roller drafting frame at a speed of 300 fpm are comparable to that of conventional screw gill frame running at a speed of 160 fpm.

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Based on the trial reports with table top model, a prototype industrial scale roller drafting frame has been developed with M/s Indian Jute Machinery Research & Development (IJMRD). A few modifications have been done on the machine as per the suggestion of PAMC team during their visit to see the machine.

8. Jute based Air Filter media having Anti-Microbial & Odour Absorbing Properties

Bio-compostable Air-filter media from Jute nonwoven has been developed at IJIRA. Functional properties like Anti-Microbial and Odour Absorbing characteristics have been incorporated in the developed air-filter media by chemical treatment. Evaluation of basic filter properties e.g. Filtration Efficiency Test and Air Flow Resistant test have been carried out which has indicated positive attributes.

Field level evaluation is in progress.

9. Development of PLA Laminated Jute as Bio-Compostable Packaging Material

Initial trials of coating bio-compostable polymer on Jute fabric has been successfully conducted at industrial scale. One bio-compostable polymer, had been identified and suitably modified for the said purpose.

Industrial scale trials are being conducted for process optimization and standardization of products.

10. Development of Jute based Textile Preforms and Pultruded Composite Products

Industrial scale trials have been carried out in association with industrial partner Crest Composite Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Ercon Composite Pvt. Ltd. where pultruded Jute thermoset composite using Jute fibre tape and unsaturated polyester resin has been developed. Bulk quantity of reinforcing material has been prepared for commercial scale pultrusion trial and product development.

11. Feasibility Study of Oil-free Processing of Jute Fibres

An eco-friendly conditioning formulation without the application of any mineral / vegetable oils for the processing of jute fibres has been developed by IJIRA. Spinning process performance and physical parameters of jute yarn spun using the formulation have been found to be better than the conventional spinning process.

12. Design and Development of Continuous Damping, Calendaring and Cutting Machine for Jute Fabric

Through design intervention, Damping, Cutting and Automatic Cloth Folding Assembly has been designed and fabricated in collaboration with M/s Madhabi Engineering Works Pvt.



Ltd. Trial runs of individual machines have also been undertaken. The commissioning and speed synchronization of the machines will be started shortly.

13. Process Development, Automation and Pilot Scale Manufacturing of Jute Based Low Cost Sanitary Napkins

A Training-cum-Incubation Centre for 100% jute based sanitary napkin has been developed at IJIRA for WSHGs/NGOs. Women entrepreneurs from Brace Foundation, Murshidabad were trained for manufacturing of jute sanitary napkins in this centre.

A detailed project report on 100% jute based low cost sanitary napkin has been prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, National Jute Board, MoT, GoI and other interested entrepreneurs. Commercialization of jute sanitary napkin is under active consideration of Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India. Brace Foundation, Murshidabad and Kaizen Kraft, Kolkata are in the process of setting up their jute sanitary napkin units.

14. NABL Accreditation (ISO 17025:2005) of IJIRA Laboratories

For getting accreditation extended, IJIRA has applied to NABL for re-accreditation of testing laboratories. Based on the audit reports, NABL accreditation for the said two laboratories has been extended till 15th June 2020. Accreditation Certificate No. for IJIRA Chemical Testing and Physical Testing Laboratory : TC - 7365.

Also, Final-assessment for IJIRA Calibration laboratory (NABL) has been completed in the month June 2018 and IJIRA has received Accreditation Certificate for IJIRA Calibration laboratory (Certificate No – CC-2772).

q Technology Transfer

1. Techno-Commercial feasibility Study of RISELLA-X a New Jute Fibre lubricant

Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between IJIRA and Shell International Petroleum Company Limited with the objectives to study the efficacy of Shell developed new jute fibre lubricant (Risella X) in jute fibre processing and it's techno commercial feasibility. The study has been carried out at IJIRA Pilot Plant. Two mill trials have been completed and one mill trial is awaited.

q Technical Services

1. Consultancy services on jute geotextiles (JGT) under Centre of Excelence (CoE)

As CoE in JGT under the scheme of “Promoting usage of Geotechnical textiles in the NER”, IJIRA is carrying out Techno Economical viability (TEV) study for various rural

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roads, hill slopes and canal bank projects. IJIRA is also assisting various State Govt. agencies of the NER for the application of JGT.

2. Incentive Scheme for Acquisition of Plant and Machinery (ISAPM) Under this scheme, National Jute Board (NJB) and the Technical Committee of ISAPM has entrusted IJIRA for working on various technical aspects of this scheme amended from time to time. In the process, IJIRA is involved in vendor registration, preparing Technical Appraisal Reports for various claims and also participates in joint inspections under this scheme.

3. Testing services to industry

l Services on quality assurance of Food Grade Jute Products (FGJP) have been provided to eighteen Jute Mills who has renewed their Process Capability license from IJIRA to manufacture FGJP for the year 2018-19.

l In the same year, total 102 lots (No. of FGJP samples 244) have been inspected, tested as per IJO 98/01 and certified by IJIRA for export. In addition, interim process audit of the manufacturing process of FGJP at 14 licensed mills has also been carried out by IJIRA.

l Total number of chemical tests carried out - 400

l Total number of tests for relief materials (Clothing and garments) of Directorate of Disaster Management performed - 2200

l Number of Blanket tested for blend composition – 412 samples

Physical testing division is providing testing services to the Jute industry as well as other government and non-government organizations. Fibre, yarn and fabrics (including Geotextiles) are tested at the laboratory regularly. This division has served 47 Jute Mills, IJMA, 11 Govt. organizations and 45 other organizat ions.

Various tests related to fibre, yarn, fabric, Geotextiles and jute bags have been carried out. Details are given below :

l Total no. of samples of Jute Bags tested - 77

l Total no. of samples of Jute Bags inspected - 45,000

l Total no. of general samples tested (External) - 259

l Total no. of test performed for external samples (except samples tested under Directorate of Disaster Management)) - 2166

l Total no. of IJIRA Moisture Meter calibrated - 225

l Total no. of tests done for different internal project and pre-projects - 308



4. Quality assurance for relief materials of Disaster Management Department of Govt. of West Bengal

Quality checking of clothing and garments for relief materials from Directorate of Disaster Management, Govt. of West Bengal have been conducted for testing their quality related characteristics including blend composition and wash-fastness properties.

q Other EffortsThe prime focus of research & development of IJIRA has always been industry driven projects. In 2018-19, IJIRA has made innovations and developments. The details are given below :

1. Realizing the fact of steady cost escalation of B. Twill jute bags, IJIRA has developed lighter (580 g/bag) and cost effective B. Twill jute bags. The Govt. of India and other state procuring agencies are now purchasing these bags under JMPA with substantial cost benefits.

2. Jute geotextile is considered to be an emerging area for the jute sector, and IJIRA, as Centre of Excellence for jute geotextiles, is now working for promotion of this product and expansion of the jute diversified products market size.

3. As an approved Inspection Agency of the Office of the Jute Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, IJIRA and its NERC are presently carrying out Inspection of B. T will jute bags in jute industry. In FY 2018-19, IJIRA has conducted inspection of 4.7 lakh bales of B. t will jute bags.

4. IJIRA is expecting a growth in revenue generation after getting its laboratories accredited by the NABL.

q Funding

IJIRA has received Rs.152 lakh as grant-in-aid from Ministry of Textiles, Government of India during the FY 2018-2019.

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Activities in North - East Region (2018-19)

SECTION II

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q Activities of IJIRA-North Eastern Regional Centre and Powerloom Service Centre, GuwahatiThe North Eastern Regional Centre of IJIRA at Guwahati has been set up for promotion of natural fibers based industries in North Eastern Region. It has also a Powerloom Service Centre (PSC) under Office of the Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India. It has a full-fledged garment manufacturing and wet processing training centre. The Centre at Guwahati provides technical support and guidance to textile and clothing sector. The Centre provides training, testing, design and development, technical consultancy and dissemination of information on schemes/initiatives of Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India for development of textile and clothing sector in NE Region.

IJIRA-NERC & PSC, Guwahati

A. Powerloom Service Centre Activities

l Technical Consultancy : IJIRA-NERC & PSC had carried out technical consultancy as well as AMC works at Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Guwahati and training on powerloom technology had also been given to the final year student of the said Institute during this period.

l Powerloom Weaving Training : IJIRA-NERC & PSC Office had carried out Training on Modern Powerloom Weaving Technology as well as Technical Consultancy at Assam Textile Institute, Guwahati. IJIRA-NERC & PSC had carried out Training cum technical consultancy at Sanajaoba Textiles, Imphal East, Manipur and M/s Abo Hina Welfare society, Papum pare, Arunachal Pradesh.

l Yarn & Fabrics sample Testing :IJIRA-NERC & PSC had carried out Yarn & Fabrics Sample testing supplied from different firms/Factories/Institutions available in the North Eastern Region.

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Training being imparted by PSC-IJIRA at IIHT, Khannapara

l Exposure visit Program :A team of 30 Weavers/Entrepreneurs from the North Eastern Region led by Shri A. K. Haloi, NERC-IJIRA had visited Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh for an Exposure visit Program under the Office of Textile Commissioner to show the technology used by the Powerloom Clusters in Varanasi and to utilise at NER by the Participants. The program was conducted from 4th February 2019 to 8th February 2019.

Weavers/Entrepreneurs during Exposure visit to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh

l Survey of PowerloomUnits :IJIRA-NERC & PSC had carried the survey of powerloom units available in the North Eastern Region and finding out the products verities producing by the respective units.

B. Work in process at IJIRA-NERC, Guwahati

l Focussed Incubation Centre (FIC) on Digital Printing : To set up facilities for digital printing on a wide range for Jute Diversified product, padding cum stenter machine has been procured and installation & training to technical staff has also been done. FIC aims to make the technologies available to small and medium scale Enterprises (SMSE) and to develop cost-effective coating technology to improve design sharpness and colour fastness properties.



l Jute Raw Material Bank (JRMB) : Indian Jute Industries' Research Association (IJIRA) and National Jute Board had executed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for operating of Jute Raw Material Bank Scheme (JRMB) at North East Regional Centre of Indian Jute Industries Research Association, EPIP Campus, Amingaon, Assam. The Jute Commissioner inaugurated the Jute Raw Material Bank Scheme (JRMB) at NERC-IJIRA and selling of JRMB material also started after the inauguration on 22nd January 2019.

l Quality Inspection of B. Twill Jute Bags :As and when suggested by IJIRA – head quarter, quality inspection of jute bags had been conducted by IJIRA-NERC officials specially in the mills situated at Assam and North Bengal and Tripura.

C. Field trial of jute plant for faster retting on jute using “IJIRA SUB-HRA” by IJIRATeam of IJIRA carried out field trial of Jute plants at Dingbori Chapori, Nagaon in Shri Maqbul Hussain land in association with Jute Corporation of India for the purpose of faster retting on Jute using “IJIRA SUBHRA” under the guidance and direction of respected Director, Dr. U. S Sarma and Deputy Director Dr. S. K Chakrabharty. Both the process of wet and dry retting has been done in the proposed Jute plants and completed the technology successfully using “IJIRA SUBHRA”.

a) Water retting

Field trial cut / uncut Jute plants

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b) Dry Retting

D. Visit of Jute Commissioner, Shri Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty, IDAS in NERC- IJIRA on 22nd January 2019.Hon'ble Jute Commissioner, Shri Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty, IDAS visited NERC- IJIRA on 22nd January 2019. The Jute Commissioner had begun his visit from the newly constructed Focussed Incubation Centre (FIC) for product diversification in Indian Jute Sector using Digital printing Technology where Padding cum Stenter / curing machine has been installed. FIC aims to make the technologies available to small and medium scale Enterprises (SMSE) and to develop cost-effective coating technology to improve design sharpness and colour fastness properties.

Director, IJIRA explaining on the working procedure of the padding-cum- Curing machine to Jute Commissioner at NERC.

The Jute Commissioner also paid visit to the soil testing laboratory. The soil testing equipment laboratory and its testing procedures for the determination of soil testing parameters were explained to Jute Commissioner. He was also explained on the functioning of the different wet processing, Powerloom and allied machineries and textile testing equipments available at the NERC.



Jute Commissioner being briefed on the soil testing procedure

The Jute Commissioner also visited the PSC building of IJIRA-NERC where he has gone through the machineries available for Jute bag making (JDP), displayed Jute Geotextiles samples, Jute based Sanitary napkin, Jute fibers from the retting carried out using IJIRA microbial consortium (IJIRA-SUBHRA).

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A walk through the exhibition cum display room

The Jute Commissioner also inaugurated the Jute Raw Material Bank Scheme (JRMB) at NERC-IJIRA and selling of JRMB material also started after the inauguration. Sanitary napkins were also distributed to the women’s participants who had come from various parts of the state of Assam by the Jute Commissioner.

Inauguration of JRMB by the Jute Commissioner in the presence of Director, IJIRA

Distribution of sanitary napkins

An interactive session was held with the Jute Industries representatives, State Govt. officials and artisans. The Jute Commissioner also planted a “Gokul tree” at NERC-IJIRA premises.



Plantation of tree saplings

Plantation of tree saplings

E. Swachhta Activities

Powerloom Service Centre of Indian Jute Industries’ Research Association, Guwahati under the Office of the Textile Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India observed Swachhata activities from 17th January 2019 to 31st January 2019 followed by regular fogging and pest control in the month of January, February and March 2019.

The massive cleanliness drive began on 17th January 2019 and NERC-IJIRA staffs were engaged to carry out various activities on cleaning and maintaining hygiene at premises and performed activities of cleaning shed, grounds and surrounding areas, laboratories, weeding out of old records and cleaning of machineries, pest control in working areas, disposal of old/obsolete items, nursery and tree plantation.

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Cleaning activities carried out under Swachhata Hi Seva

Performing Yoga Divas at IJIRA-NERC

G. Observation of Yoga Divas at NERC:

IJIRA-NERC Office had organized a Yoga Divas on 21st June 2018 at Office premises on the occasion of Yoga Day where IJIRA-NERC Officials and the outside visitors were attended the program which was completed successfully.



SECTION III

R&D Activities (2018-19)

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Project Serial No. 1.

Project title : Design and Development of 50 kg Capacity Cost Effective Jute Bags Considering Threshold Physical Parameters and Mechanical Properties

Project Team : Palash Paul (PI), Partha Sanyal, Soumita Chowdhury, Gopal Mukhopadhyay

Project Start Date : 01.04.2016

Project Objectives :

1. Design and development of 50 kg capacity jute bags, both in shuttle as well as in shuttle-less looms, considering threshold physical parameters and mechanical properties

2. Standardization of bag specifications for acceptance by the buyers

Project Activities :

This R&D project has been undertaken to scientifically develop jute bags considering threshold limits of bag parameters like; type of cloth weave, cloth cover, bag dimension and fabric breaking strength.

Under this project, efforts have been made to determine important parameters of a jute bag, establishment of relationship between important parameters for reverse engineering of bag construction. These are discussed below –

l Appropriate cloth constructionVarious types of clothes having different constructions like; plain, double warp plain and twill weave, have been prepared and tested at IJIRA laboratory. During studies it has been observed that the hook hole recovery of bags having twill woven cloth is relatively better than plain woven cloth. As in the present practice of handling jute bags, a bag suffers number of hook actions, twill weave has been preferably chosen rather than plain weave.

l Relation between yarn strength and fabric strengthSince breaking strength requirement in various directions of a jute bag is known, hence efforts have been made to establish relationship between fabric strength and constituent yarn strength, so that using that relationship various yarn count and thread density matrix may be prepared for engineering the bag. Accordingly an empirical relationship has been established among strip strength, longitudinal yarn strength (QR), longitudinal thread density and cross thread density. The relationship has also been validated using field level data.

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l Optimum porosity of jute bagThe seepage of grains form any sack is always a matter of serious concern as it leads to wastage of valuable food grains. From the studies it has been observed that if the actual cover factor of the sack is 65 (as per jute system) or more, then the seepage from sack is negligible. However, while measuring the theoretical cover factor, it is considered that yarns are having circular cross section, although practically yarns become oval in cross section after passing through the calender. Therefore, to determine the actual cover factor of sacking fabrics, a relation has been established between theoretical and actual cover factor.

l Determination of economical bag dimension -

The prescribed standard bag dimension as per IS 16186 : 2014 is 94 cm x 57cm, for bag length & bag width respectively. The dimension of jute bag is important mainly for two aspects; accommodation of desired amount of grain with prescribed open space to allow grain mobility and another is stack stability. Through laboratory studies carried out at IJIRA laboratory, it has been found that a bag dimension of 91 cm x 59 cm gives desired filled bag length:width equals to 1.5. Moreover, manufacturing cloth of 59 cm will enable the millers to improve productivity. On the other hand a particular length of cloth will produce more numbers of bags.

Engineering of Jute BagsConsidering the above four basic parameters of jute bags; 91 cm x 59 cm dimension, 65 or more cover factor and BIS stipulated strength, various Type A and Type B jute bags have been developed and tested at IJIRA laboratories. While designing the bags, the economical aspects have also been considered. Through extensive studies and experimentation with 29 different types of bags, final IJIRA has been able to finalize most prominent bag specification. These are given below –

l Type A: 91 cm x 59 cm, 44 ends/dm x 46 picks/dm, 550 g/bag

l Type B: 91 cm x 59 cm, 58 ends/dm x 28 picks/dm, 550 g/bag

Efforts are now being made to conduct field trial of these bags in association with the Food Corporation of India to assess bag performance under actual usage conditions.


Project Title : Utilization of jute sticks and jute waste for extraction of value added chemicals for industrial uses

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and Indian Jute Industry

Duration : 24 months

Project Team : Dr. Sandip Bose, Amal Chandra Deka, Atiar Rehman Dewan, Dr. Syamal Kanti Chakrabarti



Project Objective :

l Separation of Jute sticks and Jute waste into its useful constituents like lignin, hemicllulose and cellulose

l Extraction of lignin by preparation of lignosulphonate from jute sticks and jute waste for different applications.

l Extraction of hemicellulose and cellulose from jute sticks and jute waste and preparation of ethanol by chemical and biochemical reactions

l Preparation of nanocellulose from cellulose of Jute sticks and jute waste

l Preparation of bio-fuel from jute sticks and jute waste

Achievements

l Sodium lignosulphonate, bio-ethanol, bio-oil, bio-char and nanocellulose have been successfully extracted from jute sticks and jute waste at IJIRA laboratory.

l The research work carried out revealed that 80% of lignin present in Jute stick can be extracted as sodium lignosulphonate. Lignosulphonate extracted from jute stick by neutral sulphite pulping process has been characterised using FTIR. Enhancement of life of Lead electrode battery by sodium lignosulphonate is under study at CECRI, Karaikudi.

l After extraction of lignosulphonate, bioethanol is produced from the cellulose rich residue by fermentation process in laboratory scale and subsequently characterised.

l Using fast pyrolysis technique (machine installed at IJIRA pilot Plant) bio-oil is produced from jute stick powder at elevated temperature (above 600oC) under oxygen free inert condition. The bio-oil obtained from jute stick has been characterised using FTIR and GC-MS which indicates the presence of many typical ketones, aldehydes and other compounds. Further characterisation of bio oil is under progress.

l The biochar is obtained in the process of fast pyrolysis as residue and is having good agricultural uses. Bio char has been characterised by determining its Iodine value.

l Regenerated nanocellulose and cellulose sols have been developed form jute sticks in micro quantity.

Work done :

1. Sodium lignosulphonate extracted from jute sticks has been tested at CECRI Karaikudi for exploring its application potential in the use of lead acid batteries. Initial results show that although chemically it has differences as reflected through FTIR analysis, but performance wise it is comparable to commercially available chemicals.

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2. Using fast pyrolysis technique (machine installed at IJIRA pilot Plant) bio-oil is produced from jute stick powder at elevated temperature (above 600oC) under oxygen free inert condition. The bio-oil obtained from jute stick has been characterised using FTIR and GC-MS which indicates the presence of many typical ketones, aldehydes and other compounds.

Fabrication of fast pyrolysis reactor at IJIRA Pilot Plant




Project Title : Faster Retting of jute plant through Bio-Chemical intervention

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India and Indian Jute Industry

Duration : 24 months

Project Group : Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti (PI), S. G. Saha, Dr. S. Basu, R. Chakraborty, A. C. Deka, Gopal Mukhopadhyay, S. De, A. R. Dewan, Ipsita Roy, Dr U.S. Sarma

Project Objective:

i) To develop an accelerated, farmer friendly, innovative faster-retting technology of whole jute plant

ii) To improve quality of Jute fibre for value added diversified applications and better price realization

iii) To commercialize the innovative jute retting process

Work done :l IJIRA developed microbial consortium (IJIRA-SUBHRA) for innovative faster retting

of jute plants has been characterized at CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh using 16s rRNA genetic characterization technique followed by ‘BLAST Analysis’. Identified strains are (a) Pseudomonas hunanensis (b) Lysinibacillusfudi form is (c) Mycoplanaramose.

l In 2018, about 62,200 liters of IJIRA-SUBHRA produced at IJIRA Fermentation laboratory have been distributed to the farmers of various jute growing districts to carry out 5336 field demonstration trials in 41 blocks of 8 jute growing districts of West Bengal (i.e. Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, Nadia, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, Burdwan, Malda), 1 district of Assam (Nagaon) and 1 district of Bihar (Araria). 19 farmer’s awareness programmes have been carried out in eight jute growing districts of West Bengal and more than 28,000 farmers have been registered (Table-1). A farmer’s Meet has been organised at IJIRA. About 45 nos. of Jute farmers from various jute growing districts of West Bengal have participated in this meet.

l More than 60 dry retting demonstration trials using IJIRA-SUBHRA have also been carried out to check the efficacy of IJIRA-SUBHRA under water limiting condition.

l Retting of Bimli plants using IJIRA-SUBHRA has been carried out at Bobbili, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh on experimental basis.

l Grading of Jute fibres obtained either from conventional retting process or with IJIRA-SUBHRA have been carried out as per IS:271-2003. Comparative evaluation of grades

34 |



of Jute fibre has been carried out in NIRJAFT/NINFET, Kolkata (Table-2). Most of the jute fibres retted with IJIRA-SUBHRA are of better quality (TD3-TD4) and there is 1.0-1.5 grade improvement over the conventional counterpart. Commercialization of such innovative jute retting technology is in progress. There is a possibility of dry retting of Jute plant using IJIRA-SUBHRA under water limiting condition prevailed in various jute growing districts.

Table - 1 : Physical Progress on Faster Retting of Jute Plants using Microbial Consortium of IJIRA (2018)

Sl No Details Achievement1 No. of Jute Growing Districts Covered 102 No. of Blocks Covered 413 Farmers Registered 282264 Farmers Awareness Programmes 195 Field Demonstration Trials Conducted 53266 Area covered ( Hectare) 8740

Table - 2 : Third-Party Evaluation of Jute Fibre Grading

Sl. No. Retting Process Source IJIRA Tested*

NINFET(Erstwhile NIRJAFT)

Tested

1 CONVENTIONAL Haidarpur, 24-Pgs(N) 12.5% Higher than TD 5 TD-5

2 IJIRA-SUBHRA Haidarpur, 24-Pgs (N) 97.1% Higher than TD 4 40% Higher than TD-4

3 CONVENTIONAL Katwa,Burdwan 80.0% Higher than TD-5 TD-4

4 IJIRA-SUBHRA Katwa,Burdwan 9.1% Higher than TD 4 60% Higher than TD-4

5 CONVENTIONAL Jamaibati, Hooghly 63.3% Higher than TD-5 53% Higher than TD-6

6 IJIRA-SUBHRA Jamaibati, Hooghly 94.3% Higher than TD 4 33% Higher than TD-3

7 IJIRA-SUBHRA Mahesnagar, Nadia 66.6% higher than TD-4 33% Higher than TD-3

8 IJIRA-SUBHRA Karirbari, Jalpaiguri 53.3% higher than TD-4 TD-3

9 IJIRA-SUBHRA Nashtola,Malda 10.9% Higher than TD 3 20% Higher than TD-3

10 IJIRA-SUBHRA ChorarKuthi, Cooch-behar

80.0% higher than TD-3 60% Higher than TD-3

11 IJIRA-SUBHRA Beldanga, Murshidabad

12.7% Higher than TD 4

46.6% Higher than TD-4

* As per IS 271-2003** Jute plant (120-130 days, JRO-204 and 524)



Table-3 : Comparative Grading of Dry retted Jute Fibre

Field Trials Type of Retting Grading of fibre* Retting duration (days)

1Conventional 80.0% higher than TD-5 21Dry Retted 73.3% higher than TD-5 13

2Conventional 86.7% higher than TD-5 20Dry Retted 20% higher than TD-5 14

3Conventional 40% higher than TD-5 20Dry Retted TD-5 14

4Conventional 86.7% higher than TD-5 21Dry Retted 66.7% higher than TD-5 13

* As per IS 271-2003

Farmers’ Awareness Programme & Registration on Faster Retting of Jute using IJIRA-SUBHRA (PY-2018)

Paschim Simla, Baduria, North 24 Pgs.Beliakhali, North 24 Pgs.

Beldanga, Murshidabad

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Kashipur, Haripal, Hooghly

Deulia, Talukhuda, Nadia

Daihata, Burdwan

Coochbehar

Malda



Nagaon, Assam

Bimli Plant Retting Using IJIRA-SUBHRA

Awareness programme among local farmer at Bobbili, Vizianagaram, A.P.

Field demonstration trial on Faster Retting of Jute using IJIRA-SUBHRA (2018)

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Field demonstration trial of IJIRA-SUBHRA at various places of eight Jute growing districts (2018)

Beliakhali, North 24 Pgs.

Paschim Simla, North 24 Pgs.

Coochbehar

Chapra, Nadia

Astara, Hooghly



Astara, Hooghly

Kaliachak, Malda

Nouda, Murshidabad

Katwa, Burdwan

Siliguri, Jalpaiguri

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Nagaon, Assam

Narpatganj, Araria, Bihar

Dry Retting of Jute Plant Using IJIRA-SUBHRA

Haripal, Hooghly

Kankrasuti, North 24 Parganas



West Simla, North 24 Pgs

Nagaon, Assam

Field Trial on Faster Retting of Bimli Plant using IJIRA-SUBHRA

Farmer’s Meet organized at IJIRA in September, 2018

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Project title : Biochemical Softening of Hard Root Cuttings of Jute for Better Utilization

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India and Indian Jute Industry

Project group : Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti (Principal Investigator), S. G. Saha, S. De, A. R. Dewan, G. Mukhopadhyay, Dr. U. S. Sarma (Advisor), Dr. A. Chowdhury (Sr. Research Associate)

Objective :

To develop an innovative biochemical softening process of hard root-cuttings of jute

To increase the spinning potential of barky root ends of jute

To reduce the batch cost by using softened jute fibres

To commercialize the proposed biochemical root softening process

Work done :

Biochemical hard root softening formulation developed by IJIRA has been successfully implemented on production of 9.5-13.0 lbs/spy jute yarn in 18 jute mills such as Ambica Jute Mills Ltd.,

1. Birla Jute Mills,

2. Caledonian Jute and Industries’ Ltd.,

3. Ludlow Jute &Specialities Ltd.,

4. Reliance Jute Mills,

5. Sri Krishna Jute Mills (EICC),

6. Hukumchand Jute Mills,

7. RDB Textiles (Unit: Victoria Jute Mills),

8. Kamarhatty Jute Mills,

9. Hooghly Jute Mills,

10. Dalhousie Jute Mills,

11. Uma Spinners Pvt. Ltd.,

12. The Naihati Jute Mills Co. Ltd.,

13. Premchand Jute & Industries Pvt. Ltd.,

14. Kanknarrah Co. Ltd.,



15. Empire Jute Mills,

16. Loomtex Engineering Pvt. Ltd.

17. The Empire Jute Co. Ltd.

Further commercialization of such biochemical root softening formulation is in progress.

It is observed that biochemical root softening formulation is effective both on of hard root cutting and uncut jutefor better utilisation, thus reduces the batch cost substantially. More than 65,000 litres of biochemical root softening formulation have been supplied to user jute mills. Fermentation facilities for production of root softening formulation have been created in five jute mills under the technical guidance of IJIRA.


Project title : Jute-Thermoplastic Composites for Green Product Development

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India and Indian Jute IndustryProject group : Dr. Md. S. Rahman, D. Biswas, M. Sarkar, D. Panda and M. K. Singh

Major Achievements :

l Technology for incorporation of Jute fibre/caddies into thermoplastic resins utilizing shear mixing mechanism has been developed.

l Upto 20% Jute/caddies has been incorporated into the composites and moulding products made out of them. This will increase use of Jute in plastics.

l Jute incorporated LLDPE composite tank manufacturing process has been established.

l Jute-Thermoplastic composite Pilot Plant has been established at IJIRA

l Industrial scan le production is in process.

Commercialization

One prospective product with Jute reinforced LLDPE composites i.e. overhead water tanks have been explored for commercial production. The product has been put into the market by M/s Patton International Ltd and overall positive market response has been reported.

Jute – HDPE composites have also been explored for injection moulded product development. Jute – HDPE composite waste bins are being identified as prospective products.

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Project title : Development of Standards for Use of Jute Geotextiles (JGTs) in Rural Roads

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and Indian Jute Industry

Project Team : Dr. Mahuya Ghosh (PI), Palash Paul, Rumki Saha, Monimoy Das, Ayanjyoti Pal, Supriya Pal, Arindam Das, Joyjit Mukherjee, Prof. (Dr.) G.V. Rao (advisor), Dr. U. S. Sarma

Project Objectives :1. To review the current state of the art literature on the use of jute geotextiles in pavement

construction.

2. To engineer different JGTs (100 % jute based jute geotextiles, bituminized jute geotextiles and blended jute geotextiles including plastics if compatible) of various constructions depending on different applications in rural road and standardization of JGTs.

3. To construct prototype models of the proposed pavement in the laboratory and to evaluate its performance. Comparative analysis of different JGTs, synthetic geotextiles embedded pavement models and control (i.e. without any geotextiles) pavement models.

4. To carry out Objective No. 3, four different types of soils from different parts of India, viz., Alluvial soil, Black cotton soil, Red soil and Lateritic soil (covering rural hinterland of the country) will be used.

5. To supervise the construction of a rural road incorporating jute geotextiles at various layers and interfaces.

6. To evaluate the performance of rural roads incorporating jute geotextiles at various layers and interfaces.

7. To obtain approval of JGT by competent authorities.

8. To study ‘creep’ behavior and related functional properties of different JGTs and synthetic geotextiles. (As suggested by Dr. D. Sur, Member, PAMC)

Major Achievements : 1. All laboratory studies have been completed.

Work Done : Field level studies are carried out by applying different varieties of JGT [Normal JGT (724 gsm), Blended with PP, chemically treated with water and fungal resistant chemicals] on the PMGSY road constructed in Manipur. The collaborating institute is the Manipur Institute of Technology (MIT). As decided by PAMC the monitoring will be done involving CRRI and NJB.




Project title : Development of High Speed Roller Drafting System for Improvement in Jute Drawing Frame Productivity

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Govt. India and Indian Jute Industy

Project Team : Partha Sanyal (PI), Debiprasad Gon, Palash Paul, Gopal Mukhopadhyay, Budhadeb Das

Project Objective :

l Development of roller drafting system for jute finisher drawing frame for achieving higher production (at least double production i.e. Delivery speed of 300 fpm than the conventional Screw-Gill drawing frame)

l Standardization of the machine and process parameters

l Commercialisation and industrial acceptance of Roller Drafting Jute Finisher drawing frame

Introduction :

In order to have a rational approach to overcome the technical limits of the existing screw gill jute drawing frames, a roller drafting system has been thought off similar to cotton/synthetic drawing system with simplified design for ease of operation and maintenance while efficient enough to control fibre movement in the drafting zone.

Work Done :

To see the efficacy of the roller drafting concept in jute fibre drawing, a table top roller drafting jute finisher drawing frame has been fabricated. Comparative studies have been carried out to produce sacking warp quality yarn (9.5 lb/spy) with the slivers of standard batch quality from roller drafting jute finisher drawing frame at various speeds of 240 fpm, 270 fpm and 300 fpm and sliver from corresponding screw gill finisher drawing frame at a delivery speed of 160 fpm. It has been found that the quality of yarns produced from the sliver of roller drafting frame at a speed of 300 fpm are comparable to that of conventional screw gill frame running at a speed of 160 fpm.

Based on the trial reports with table top model, a prototype industrial scale roller drafting frame has been developed with M/s Indian Jute Machinery Research & Development (IJMRD). To make it suitable for industrial run at higher speed some design modifications have been done.

In the course of design modification, the self weighted top rollers at the drafting zone of table top roller drafting frame has been replaced with spring loaded arrangement to avoid unnecessary vibrations during the high speed running. The ratch of the drafting zone has been reduced from 14″ to 12.7″ so as to make it comparable with conventional Screw Gill drawing frame. All the guiding rollers (both top and bottom rollers) has been serrated/straight fluted.

46 |



Initially the trial has been carried out with a delivery speed of 670 fpm and comparative study has been done. It has been found from the trial that the optimisation of speed is necessary for better quality of sliver in terms of short term irregularity and the speed was subsequently reduced to 580 fpm. The details has been presented in the 9th PAMC meeting on Scheme for R & D in Textile Machinery including Jute (Component II) under the Chairmanship of Jute Commissioner on 26th November 2018. The members of the PAMC have suggested to carry out demonstration of the developed machine and accordingly demonstration of Pilot scale Roller Drafting Jute Finisher Drawing Frame has held before the members of the PAM Calong with Deputy Jute Commissioner on 25.01.2019 at the Mechanical Processing Pilot Plant of IJIRA. It has decided to send the said machine for a full scale trial at mill shop floor.

It has been planned to do certain modifications in the said machine to make it suitable for full scale mill level trial.

Demonstration of Pilot scale Roller Drafting Jute Finisher Drawing Frame before the and Deputy Jute Commissioner and PAMC Members on 25.01.2019 at Mechanical Processing Pilot Plant of IJIRA




Project title : Jute based Air Filter media having Anti-Microbial & Odour Absorbing Properties

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India & M/s Gloster Limited

Project group : Dr. Md. S. Rahman, D. Biswas, M. Sarkar, P Sanyal

Deliverables

l Bio-compostable Air filtration media based on Jute textiles having functional properties.

l Possibility of utilizing jute textile mainly nonwoven in unconventional application.

Major Work Done :

Nonwoven jute textile has been experimented for making filter media of close to uniform air permeability supplied by the Industry Collaborator, Gloster Ltd.

Complete performance testing as per ASHRAE 52.2 [American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers] has also been conducted.

Developed filter media was framed properly and tried as filter in an Air Conditioner machine along with M/s Blue Star Ltd. It was observed that air flow is affected.

Performance evaluation and repeatability check of Jute nonwoven filter media at IJIRA Central AC system is being conducted for consecutive four cycles of use. The observation indicates that after four cycle of use the filtration capacity of the Jute nonwoven based filter has dropped considerably. It indicates end of the serviceability of the filter.

M/s Blue Star has indicated that Jute filters restrict the airflow in the household AC systems beyond their permissible limit. Other application may be explored.

Jute based air filter developed for characterization

48 |




Project title : Development of PLA Laminated Jute as Bio-Compostable Packaging Material

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India & M/s East India Commercial Company Limited, Eluru

Project group : Dr. Md. S. Rahman, M. Sarkar, D. Biswas

Deliverables

l 100% bio-compostable polymer film laminated jute sheet for packaging applications.

l Value addition in the polymer film laminated packaging product for niche market.

Major Work Done:

One bio-compostable polymeric product has been identified based on laboratory study for conducting pilot scale trial on the machine.

Several pilot scale biocompostable lamination trials have been carried out at different mills.

About 1200 m production trial of bio-compostable laminated Jute fabric has been taken with variation in film thickness and control of various temperature zones of the extruder, die head and running speed of the fabric at Gloster Ltd. where fault free laminated fabrics have been developed.

Under an optimized condition, film weight of 120-130 g/sq.m has been achieved.

Further processing parameter optimization is being continued.

Biocompostble lamination on Jute cloth (experimental sample)




Project title : Development of Jute based Textile Preforms and Pultruded Composite Products

Sponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India & M/s Crest Composites and Plastics Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad

Project group : Dr. Md. S. Rahman, D. Biswas, M. Sarkar, M. Madak

Deliverables

l Establishment of optimized process for making Jute reinforced Pultruded composites.

l Production of pultruded jute composite profiles /panels.

Major Work Done :

l Several pilot scale pultrusion trials have been conducted using jute tape, jute yarn and jute fabric as reinforcement and unsaturated polyester resin as matrix where pultruded profiles have been prepared. 58% by weight fibre has been used as reinforcement with the collaborating Industry i.e ERCON Composites, Jodhpur.

l Bulk quantity jute reinforcing material has been prepared at Gloster Ltd. for industrial scale jute reinforced pultruded composite product development.

l M/s Ercon Composites is to explore the prospective application of Jute pultruded composites in house-building and architectural industries.

l Industrial scale trial for product development will be undertaken shortly at Jodhpur to make commercial grade product.

Jute reinforced pultruded profiles for structural application

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Project title : Feasibility Study of Oil-free Processing of Jute FibresSponsored by : Ministry of Textiles, Govt. India

Project group : Ritwik Chakraborty (Principal Investigator), Bishwarup Nandi, Gopal Mukhopadhyay, Dr. Amit Kumar Paul, Silajit Naskar, Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, and Dr. U. S. Sarma

1. Introduction

Jute is treated with an oil-in-water emulsion to increase its pliability so it can undergo carding and drawing prior to spinning for yarn formation. Presently an oil-in-water emulsion comprising Jute Batching Oil, a petroleum distillate and a nonionic surfactant are used for fiber softening agent. However, the presence of several undesired compounds in JBO inevitably creates the need to find suitable alternatives which will retain the desired properties of jute yarn and spinning process performance while making the process more eco-friendly. In the present work, numerous eco-friendly conditioning formulations comprising friction modifying agents in the form of water-miscible emulsions have been developed and subsequently applied onto jute fibre at the batching stage. Process performance of treated sliver during carding, drawing, spinning and yarn quality has been studied.

2. Work Done2.1. Development of Eco-friendly Conditioning Formulations

The oil-free formulations were prepared by mixing friction modifying agents in various concentrations and a non-ionic surfactant (1% of weight of softening agent) with magnetic stirring with pouring water slowly. The emulsions were diluted with water as per required moisture application percentage on the weight of total fibre.

2.2. Yarn Making

Jute fibre was treated with application of emulsion uniformly. The moisture application is maintained at (20-30) % (on weight of fibre) and processed in a jute softener machine (16 pair rollers) and then piled in layers in a closed bin for (24-48) hours. The piled fibre strands were then processed through two stages of carding (Breaker and Finisher) for breaking the meshy structure followed by three stages of Drawing (screw gill type). Finally 3rd drawing slivers were spun on 4¼” slip draft spinning machine running at 3800 r.p.m to make yarns of 10 lb/spy.

2.2.3. Evaluation of Spinning Process Performance

Fibre loss in terms of fibre droppings (in percentage of the weight of total fibre fed) at carding machines (both breaker card and finisher card), and moisture regain of fibre prior to spinning stage (using capacitance type moisture meter for jute as well as oven dry method) and yarn breakage rate (in terms of number of yarn breaks/spindle/h) during spinning were evaluated following commonly practiced methods.



2.2.5. Evaluation of Yarn Properties

The jute yarns were conditioned at 65± 2% RH at 27± 2°C for 48 hours. Breaking tenacity, elongation at break of the jute yarns were determined using Instron Tensile tester. IS 1670- 1991. Yarn unevenness and hairiness properties were measured using Uster Tester Machine.

3. Result 3.1. Stability of Emulsion

Stability of emulsion made of JBO and RBO has been assessed along with the developed formulation. It is observed that JBO and RBO emulsion has been destabilized due to flocculation after one day, but oil-free formulation was found to be stable.

3. 2. Effect on properties of jute yarn & spinning process performance

In the present study, four different types of friction modifying agents (FMA1, FMA2, FMA3, FMA4), two different types of moisture controlling agents (MCA1, MCA2) were used as conditioning agents to carry out the spinning trials of jute fibre. Initially trials were carried out with all the above items separately and then in combinations to find a suitable alternative(s) of mineral oil based conditioning agent. Physical parameters of jute yarn spun using oil-free formulations along with those made of JBO have been analyzed.

Out of all the experiments, four have been identified (shown in Table 1) as having better quality ratio (significant at 99% confidence level) and having lower mass and strength co-efficient of variation than that of average value of JBO-treated yarn.

The work done so far under the said project demonstrated that it is possible to spin jute yarn successfully in existing jute spinning system without any change / deterioration in spinning process performance using eco-friendly oil-free spinning additives in place of conventional mineral-based jute batching oil.

Photographs for JBO Emulsion, RBO Emulsion and Oil-free Formulation – (a) Just after preparation and (b) One day after preparation

a b

52 |



Table 1. Yarn properties and spinning process performance

S. No.

Additives used

Avg.Count

CV (%)

Avg. Quality Ratio

Strength CV (%)

Spinning breaks (No. of breakage

/100 spindles /

hr)

Droppings at

Carding machines

(%)

Statistical significance

1

J.B.O (2% o.w.f ) Application:

25% owf

5.03 82.32 20.46 79 2.75

2

R.B.O (2% o.w.f ) Application:

25% owf

4.80 75.07 21.27 83 3.10

3

FMA 1 (0.1% owf) + FMA 4 (0.1% owf)

+ MCA 1 (0.08% owf); Application:

25% owf

5.83 89.31 19.24 68 2.65

tActual (Quality Ratio) - 10.08, significant

at 99% Confidence Level

4

FMA 1 (0.15% owf)

+ FMA 4 (0.15% owf)

+ MCA 1 (0.08% owf); Application:

25% owf

5.01 89.98 17.23 64 2.45

tActual (Quality Ratio) –

9.21, significant at 99% Confidence

Level

5

FMA 2 (0.%owf) +

FMA 4 (0.1% owf) + MCA (0.08% owf); Application:

25% owf

3.79 80.41 20.77 85 2.98

tActual (Quality Ratio) –

5.67, significant at 99% Confidence

Level




Project title : Design and Development of Continuous Damping, Calendering and Cutting Machine for Jute Fabric

Project Team : Palash Paul (PI), Partha Sanyal, Gopal Mukhopadhyay, Joyjit Mukherjee

Project start date : 01.01.2017

Project Objectives :1. Design and development of continuous damping, calendering and cutting/folding

machine for jute fabric

2. Modified set-up for running damping, calendering and cloth cutting/folding in tandem without making much changes in existing machine designs

3. Standardization of the process parameters

Project Activities :

With an aim to rationalize manpower in the finishing section of sacking production, an effort is being made to develop a continuous Damping, Calendering, Cutting machine and an assembly for automatic cloth folding device.

The design concept of the machine has been identified in consultation with approved machinery manufacturer, i.e. M/s Madhabi Engineering Works. Pvt. Ltd and a machine outline, as given below, have been worked out.

The Damping and Cutting machines have been developed with the collaborator and trial runs have been undertaken. The work is also going on for development of the assembly for automatic cloth folding device and calendering machine. The complete fabrication of the machines is expected to be completed by April, 2019 after which the machines will be commissioned at IJIRA Pilot Plant.

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Damping machine

Feed-side of cutting machine



Delivery-side of cutting machine

Automatic cloth folding device

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Project title : Process Development, Automation and Pilot Scale Manufacturing of Jute Based Low Cost Sanitary Napkins

Sponsored by : National Jute Board

Project group : Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti (Principal Investigator), Dr. S. Basu, A. C. Deka, R. Chakraborty, A. R. Dewan, Dr. U. S. Sarma (Advisor)

Objectives :

l To utilize 100% jute as absorbent pulp (JAP) for manufacturing low cost sanitary napkin

l To develop low cost automation in development of napkin manufacturing process for MSME sector

l To improve the cost efficacy and design aspect of jute based sanitary napkins as per Standard

l To develop low cost jute based napkins affordable to rural women and improving awareness in rural areas/school/colleges with State and Central Govt. Agencies and NGOs/WSHG

l Creation of facility for pilot scale production of JAP and sanitary napkin

l To help Women Self Help Groups (WSHG) in manufacturing of low cost jute based sanitary napkins

Work done :

A detailed project report on 100% jute based low cost sanitary napkin developed by IJIRA has been prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, National Jute Board, MoT, GoI, and other interested entrepreneurs. Manufacturing of low cost automatic jute sanitary napkin machine is in progress. Commercialization of jute sanitary napkin is under active consideration of Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, Brace Foundation, Murshidabad and Kaizen Kraft, Kolkata are in the process of setting up their jute sanitary napkin unit.



Facility for Production of Jute Pulp for Sanitary Napkin

Training cum Incubation Centre of Jute Based Sanitary Napkin

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Inauguration of the training-cum-incubation centre of IJIRA by Hon’ble Minister of Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani.


Project title : NABL Accreditation of IJIRA Laboratories

Project group : Debi Prasad Gon, S. G. Saha, S. Chowdhury

Sponsored by : National Jute Board (NJB)

Work done :A. IJIRA Testing Laboratories

For getting accreditation extended, IJIRA has applied to NABL for re-accreditation of laboratories.

Re-Assessment NABL Audit for IJIRA Physical and Chemical Testing Laboratories was held on 11.03.2018 and 12.03.2018. Necessary Non-Conformity (NC) has been closed within stipulated time.

Based on the audit reports, NABL accreditation for the said two laboratories has been extended till 15th June 2020. Accreditation Certificate No. for IJIRA Chemical Testing and Physical Testing Laboratory : TC - 7365.

B. IJIRA Calibration Laboratory

Final-assessment for IJIRA Calibration laboratory (NABL) was held on 23.06.2018 and 24.06.2018. IJIRA has also taken necessary corrective actions against Non-Conformity observations and application has been submitted within stipulated time. All the NCs are closed. IJIRA has received certificate for IJIRA Calibration certificate (Certificate No – CC-2772).



PRE- PROJECT STUDY

Title of the study : Effect of Calcium Lignosulphonate (CaLS) from Jute Stick on Some Geotechnical Properties of Swelling Black Cotton Soil (BCS)

Team : Dr. Mahuya Ghosh, Dr. Sandip Bose, Rumki Saha, Monimoy Das

Background :

Many traditional soil stabilizers (e.g., lime, cement, etc.) have been developed and widely and effectively used to prevent infrastructural damage caused by expansive soils (poor quality) throughout the world. However, they often adversely affect the surrounding soil and groundwater environment. Moreover, traditionally treated soils have shown excessive brittle behaviour, especially under cyclic loads.

To establish an alternative stabilizer that could overcome these problems, use of calcium lignosulphonate (CaLS) which is processed from jute stick (a waste product of jute plant after extraction of jute fibre) has been explored in this study at laboratory level. CaLS is relatively more environment friendly material and available in powder form.

Work done :

Calcium lignosulphonate (CaLS) preparation from jute:

At first, different lots of CaLS powder have been prepared/processed from the jute stick in Chemical Pilot Plant of IJIRA as per the method described below.

Six litre of distilled water was taken in a 20 L capacity glass beaker. 6mL of concentrated sulfuric acid was added to the water to obtain the desired pH of 3-4. 160g of sodium sulfite was added to the mildly acidic solution quickly followed by addition of 600g of finely crushed jute stick powder and thoroughly mixed so that the entire mass of solid is wet. The pH of the final slurry was checked to be around 4. The mixture was then placed inside the high pressure autoclave. The temperature was set at 190°C which was reached in about 3 hours. The pressure indicator showed a pressure of 168 psiG (12 kg/cm2G). The temperature in the autoclave was maintained for 20 minutes and then allowed to cool to 60°C or lower which takes approximately 8 h. The beaker was removed from the autoclave. The biomass was filtered with a nylon mesh and squeezed to extract maximum liquor. After it was squeezed and filtered and the filtrate was collected. In a separate beaker, 200g of calcium oxide was dissolved/suspended in 2 litres of water. The suspension was allowed to settle for 5 minutes and the supernatant was added to the filtrate until the pH 7 was reached. The precipitate of Calcium sulphate and bisulphates were removed by sedimentation and decantation. To the decanted liquor further calcium hydroxide was added to obtain a precipitate. The precipitate of basic calcium lignosulphonate that was obtained was centrifuged at 4000 RPM for 10 minutes. The supernatant was discarded and the residue was collected. It was dissolved in minimum quantity of 2M H2SO4. It was filtered and the residue discarded. The pH of the filtrate was adjusted to 7 by addition of further Ca(OH)2 and the filtrate

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dried. Pure calcium lignosulphonate was thus prepared. About 100 g of Calcium lignosulphonate was obtained.

Mixing of CaLS with BC soil and testing in Soil Testing Laboratory of IJIRA

CaLS produced in different lots were thereafter mixed with the swelling BC soil from Andhra Pradesh in different proportions (on the dry mass of soil) and soaked for different durations. Subsequently, evaluation of the efficacy of CaLS admixture in controlling/reducing the swell potential of a remoulded expansive soil was carried out. To this end, the Atterberg Limits (e.g., liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index) and shrinkage limit of the CaLS treated and untreated BC soils have been determined in the Soil Testing Laboratory of IJIRA.

Results & Conclusions :

The FTIR spectrum of the CaLS obtained from jute stick is shown in Figure 1. The broad peak from 3200-3550 cm-1 is characteristic of the phenolic –OH group of lignosuphonate. The peak at 2941 cm-1 and 2853 cm-1 is due to aliphatic C-H stretching vibration. The 1045 cm-1 and 1417 cm-1 is characteristic -S=O stretching vibration, while the 1182 cm-1 and 1330 cm-1 is the strong stretching vibration of sulphonate group. The peak at 1597 cm-1and 1516 cm-1 is due to the alkene groups.

FTIR spectrum of the CaLS obtained from jute stick

The experimental BC soil contains approximately 22% sand, 19 % silt and 59% clay. The maximum dry density and optimum moisture content of the soil are 13 kN/m3 and 34%, respectively.



Table 1 : Comparison of properties of CaLS (Lot 2) treated BC soil vis-à-vis untreated BC soil CaLS used : Lot 2; Soaking duration : 24 h.

Properties Black Cotton Soil

B C Soil+ 2% CaLS

(Lot 2)

B C Soil + 3% CaLS

(Lot 2)

B C Soil + 4% CaLS

(Lot 2)

Liquid Limit % 77 77 71.8 74.6Plastic Limit % 33.6 35.18 36.5 32.3

Plasticity Index % 43.4 41.82 35.3 42.3Shrinkage Limit % 11.7 11.8 12.1 9.4

From Table 1, it can be observed application of 3% CaLS admixture is providing the best improvement (lowest plasticity index and liquid limit along with highest plastic limit and shrinkage limit) in the experimental BC soil with respect to the tested engineering properties in comparison to other experimental mix proportions, e.g., 2% and 4%.

Table 2 : Comparison of properties of CaLS (Lot 4) treated BC soil vis-à-vis untreated BC soil CaLS used : Lot 4; Soaking duration : 72 h.

Properties Black Cotton Soil

B C Soil+ 2% CaLS

(Lot 4)

B C Soil+ 2.5% CaLS

(Lot 4)

B C Soil + 3% CaLS

(Lot 4)

B C Soil + 4% CaLS

(Lot 4)Liquid Limit % 77 68 65 65 64Plastic Limit % 33.6 32.6 31 34 33

Plasticity Index % 43.4 35.4 34 31 31Shrinkage Limit % 11.7 - 10.8 13.3 9.9

Referring to Table 2, the following can be observed :

a) For all the percentages of CaLS application (i.e., 2%, 2.5%, 3% and 4%), there are substantial reductions in liquid limit and plasticity index values of the treated BC soil. Hence, CaLS has worked well in controlling the swell behaviour of the BC soil as an admixture.

b) Application of this particular lot of CaLS and simultaneous increase in soaking duration (from 24 h to 72 h) has improved the tested engineering properties of the soil.

c) Application of 3% CaLS here also yielded the best result. Though 4% application of CaLS has produced lowest plasticity index and liquid limit values, shrinkage limit value has reduced considerably (even lower than untreated BC soil).

From the above experimental results, it can be concluded that calcium lignosulphonate (CaLS) from jute stick has shown encouraging effects in improving some geotechnical properties of the swelling BC soil, viz., Atterberg limits and shrinkage limit.

SECTION IV

Activities under Centre of Excellence (CoE)

for Jute Geotextiles (JGT)

in the NER(2018-19)

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1. Centre of Excellence (CoE) Activities Jute Geotextiles application work carried out in three projects under PWD, Govt. of

Meghalaya namely, Slope Stabilization in “Upgradation of Jongksha – Kharang – Dienglieng – Nongjrong – Road”, “Improvement including strengthening of the weak pavement for 12th mile of ST road NH-40 to Mawan”, “Up gradation of Mawshynrut-Hahim Road (37.365 km) under State highway & major Districts road”.

Jute Geotextiles (JGT) application work completed in appx. 90,000 sq. m area

Snaps taken during the Jute Geotextiles installation in the above project

A. TEV studies under Rural Engineering Department / MSRRDA, Govt. of Manipur. Team of IJIRA along with Officials of Rural Engineering Department had carried out TEV

studies for application of JGT in seven PMGSY road projects and submitted DPR II of total new 11 road projects (Jute Geotextiles component) for necessary recommendation by SLCC, Manipur to Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India.

B. 7th Meeting of SLCC Manipur The 7th SLCC, Manipur, under the Scheme for Promoting Usage of Geotechnical Textiles

in North East Region held under the Chairmanship of Dr. Suhel Akhtar, IAS, Addl Chief Secretary (Works), Govt of Manipur on 11.05.2018 at 3.00 pm was attended by Shri Th. Basanta Singh, Officer in Charge, IJIRA-NERC, Guwahati where the committee recommended 07 new alternatives PMGSY road for substitution of old 07 road and also recommended 83 new projects of road construction and hill slope stabilization to IJIRA for carrying out TEV studies.

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C. TEV studies under Roads and Bridges Department Gangtok, Govt. of Sikkim Team of IJIRA along with Officials of Roads and Bridges Department Gangtok, Govt. of

Sikkim had carried out TEV studies for application of JGT in 03 National Highway for side slope stabilization.

i. The Two lane NH from Melli to Namchi, 32 Km in South Sikkim.

ii. The Two lane NH from Naya Bazar to Legship, 24 Km in West Sikkim

iii. The Two lane NH from Marchuk to Radang, 5.57 Km in East Sikkim

D. Formulation of strategy for monitoring work to be done under the project MoT 06/JGT in Rural Roads/2016 for the Road “Hiyanglam to Hiranmei in Kakching District.

The team of IJIRA had visited the projected site of PMSGY Road to carry out the formulation of strategy for monitoring work to be done under the project MoT 06/JGT in Rural Roads/2016 for the Road “Hiyanglam to Hiranmei in Kakching District (Previously in Thoubal District) under PMGSY-Phase-X” under MSRRDA. Govt. of Manipur. (MN0832). The team had focused on the below monitoring parameters:-

1. The tests such as Benklemen Beam, DCP, Core Cutter, Skid Resistance and Merlin needs to be performed for monitoring works after completion of Road construction.

2. The team highlighted every section of 500m two set of test needs to be performed and 10 Nos of test pit will be required.

3. The team also informed that monitoring period shall be minimum 02 Year and every three month, team will performed on site testing for data analysis and evaluation of road performance due to use of Jute Geotextiles.

Random Snapshots taken during the period of Imphal Visit for monitoring formulation

WBM II Construction under progress Onsite discussion for road monitoring



Onsite snap taken on road site with EE, Thoubal

E. FirstFieldStudyforAssessingtheComparativeEfficacyoftheApplicationofJuteGeotextiles over control sections in PMGSY Road Construction at Manipur

An experimental rural road for field trial from Chainage 0 Km to 2.4 km length has been constructed over compacted subgrade layer at the actual road site in Manipur for assessing the comparative efficacy of the selected three types of Jute Geotextiles (JGTs) namely, Commercially available 724 gsm woven JGT, Rot proof treated to commercial available JGT and PP Blended Jute Geotextiles and control sections in PMGSY road named “Hiyanglam to Hiranmei” (Road code MN0832) in Kakching District under MSRRDA, Govt. of Manipur. The selected experimental JGTs have been laid at the actual road site in Manipur in February, 2018. The first field monitoring assessing the comparative efficacy of the application of Jute geotextiles over control sections in road construction at Manipur was carried out under the guidance of Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA, Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, Deputy Director, IJIRA amongst other officials of IJIRA in collaboration with Dr. Y. Arunkumar, Manipur Institute of Technology and Coordinator, STA, Manipur and Officials of Rural Engineering Department from 23rd to 25th January 2019.

Under the field monitoring, the following field studies to study the behaviour/performance of the three different JGTs have been carried out.

l Monitoring and evaluate the quality of the subgrade of a road by measuring in-situ subgrade soil strength in field equivalent to CBR (Dynamic Cone Penetrometer – DCP).

l Determination of the rebound deflection of pavement under a standard wheel load and tyre pressure (Benkelman Beam test)

l Determination of roughness of road surface (MERLIN Test)

l Biodegradability study of the Jute Geotextiles applied

l Soil Types and Their Behaviour

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DCP test in progress

Benkelman Beam test in progress

MERLIN Test in progress



Conclusion :

Under the first field monitoring, the following conclusions can be made from the study.

1. Monitoring and evaluate the quality of the subgrade of a road by measuring in-situ subgrade soil strength in field equivalent to CBR (Dynamic Cone Penetrometer – DCP).

On the basis of the above findings and comparison among the DCP tests done before and after JGT application at 0.4Km, 0.8Km, 1.2km, 1.8Km, 2.2Km this may be consider that the soil at 1.2Km point (IJIRA-B1-FT, PP Blended Jute Geotextiles, 0.885Km to 1.350 Km) gets slight improvement than the other sections after 11 month of application of Jute Geotextiles. The improvement can be seen in terms of penetration value for 300mm depth of subgrade and various corresponding CBR estimation.

2. Determination of the rebound deflection of pavement under a standard wheel load and tyrepressure (Benkelman Beam test)

Field road test sections with application of Jute Geotextiles shows better performance with less pavement deflection. No significant reduction in pavement deflection data can be observed in three different types of Jute Geotextiles at this stage.

3. Biodegradability study of the Jute Geotextiles applied

Microscopic study of the exhumed JGTs after 11 months given in the above photographs reveals the following :

i) Rate of biodegradation of Blended JGT is the slowest.

ii) Rot-proof treatment has enhanced the life of JGT to some extent.

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SECTION V

Machine Development / Technology Transfer

&Technical Services

(2018-19)

72 |





Machine Development

To address the issues of age old technology used by the jute mills, the Indian jute industry needs strong technological change in the concept of fibre processing starting from batching to spinning, improvement in productivity to meet the growing market demand, to produce better quality yarn for diversified applications and opening up of new avenues for the jute sector and also to lessen the too dependency on workers through automation to address the scarcity of the jute mill workers.

Accordingly a committee, comprising of the members from IJIRA, Govt. of India and jute mills have conceptualized the following process techniques for technological upgradation of the jute industry –

l Keep the fibres as long as possible and avoid generation of short fibres in the process of splitting the fibres, so that the fibre length distribution gets improved which will finally provide a stronger yarn suitable for high-end and industrial applications

l Use of autoleveller, wherever possible, so that the evenness of the sliver can be improved which will subsequently reduce thread breakage in spinning, winding, beaming and weaving. Substantial gain in the efficiency of the machinery is therefore expected.

l Improvement in the machine speed through proper engineering design, metallurgy and driving system

l Increase in the delivery package size to minimize the efficiency loss due to frequent doffing

l Continuous process instead of batch processes, wherever possible, to reduce material handling in between process and savings in manpower cost

l Automation, wherever possible, to manufacture quality products in addition to savings in wages

Subsequently the committee suggested IJIRA to formulate suitable machinery development projects. IJIRA thereafter formulated the following eight machinery development projects in order to achieve the ultimate objective of productivity and quality improvement.

1. Development of New Generation Carding and Drawing Machines for improved Jute Yarn Quality

2. Development of Flat Card for Jute Processing

3. Development of Chain Gill Drawing with Autoleveller as Second Drawing for Jute Processing

4. Development of Ring Spinning Frame for Jute Yarn

5. Design and Development of Automatic Jute Bag Stitching Machine

Subsequently these projects have been submitted to the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India which is currently under their consideration.

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Transfer of technologies to the Jute mills

Technology Transfer No. 1.

Title : Process improvement for producing better quality yarn

Group : Dr. S K Chakrabarti, Partha Sanyal, Debi Prasad Gon, Gopal Mukhopadhyay, Suvankar Bej, Wasim Ali and Dharmendra Singh

Work done

Achieving better quality yarn is one of the major focus areas of industry for holistic improvement and smooth functioning of jute processing. But it needs multi prong interventions in each and individual process steps starting from selection of raw jute quality, regular feeding at each and every stage of processing, proper moisture control and retention, machine maintenance, regular monitoring of sliver quality etc.

In the present year, IJIRA team conducted the study for process improvement at Budge Budge Jute Mill.Accordingly recommendations were made to rectify the process and machine parameters.

Technology Transfer No. 2.

Title : Bio-chemical softening of hard root-cuttings of jute

Group : Dr. S.K. Chakrabarti, S.G. Saha, Gopal Mukhopadhyay, Biswarup Nandy, Suvankar Bej, Debi Prasad Gon, Dharmendra Singh

Work done

Biochemical root softening technology developed by IJIRA is found effective both on hard root cuttings and low grade uncut jute.

Commercialization of this technology has been continuing on the following jute mills.

l Birla Jute Mills

l Hooghly Mills Co. Ltd.

l Alliance Mills (Lessees) Ltd

l Uma Spinners Pvt. Ltd

l Premchand Jute & Industries Pvt.Ltd.

l The Naihati Jute Mills Co.Ltd

l Kanknarrah Co. Ltd.

l The Empire Jute Co.Ltd.



Technical Services

Technical Service No. 1.

Title : Testing services of Physical Testing Division

Team : Soumita Chowdhury (In-Charge, 1st April to 12th April and 5th December to 31st March), Anup Nandi (In-Charge, 13th April to 20th August), Partha Sanyal (In-Charge 21st August to 4th December) K. N. Singh and Dipankar Das.

Physical testing division is providing testing services to the Jute industry as well as other government and non-government organizations. Fibre, yarn and fabrics (including Geotextiles) are tested at the laboratory regularly. This division has served 47 Jute Mills, IJMA, 11 Govt. organizations and 45 other organizations.

Total no. of commercial tests done for member and non member organisations –

Various tests related to fibre, yarn, fabric, Geotextiles and jute bags have been carried out. Details are given below:

â Total no. of samples of Jute Bags tested - 77

â Total no. of samples of Jute Bags inspected - 45,000

â Total no. of general samples tested (External) - 259

â Total no. of test performed for external samples (except samples tested under Directorate of Disaster Management) (Govt. of W.B.) - 2166

â Total no. of IJIRA Moisture Meter calibrated - 225

Total no. of tests done for different internal project and pre-projects –

l Total number of tests done for project and pre-project works are - 308

Earning from Calibration and External Sample Testing at Physical Testing laboratory in the financial year 2017-18 (excluding tests under internal projects and pre-projects and samples tested under Directorate of Disaster Management, Govt. of West Bengal) is – Rs. 8,40,888 (excluding tax)

Services provided to the Jute mills are given below :

1. Birla Jute & Industries Limited

2. Empire Jute Company Ltd.

76 |



3. Jutex Industries Private Ltd.

4. Premchand Jute Mill

5. Ambika Jute Mills Ltd.

6. Gloster Ltd.

7. Ludlow Jute & Specialties Ltd.

8. Janakalyan Vinimoy

9. Reliance Jute Mills (International) Ltd.

10. Hukumchand Jute Mills

11. Aditya Translink Pvt. Ltd.

12. The Naihati Jute Mill Co. Ltd.

13. Bowreah Jute Mills Pvt. Ltd

14. AI Champdany Industries Ltd.

15. Murlidhar Ratanlal Export Ltd. (Unit: Gondolpara Jute Mill)

16. Auckland Jute Mills

17. Gondolpara Jute Mills

18. Cheviot Co. Ltd.

19. RDB Textiles Ltd.

20. Hastings Jute Mill

21. Alliance Mills (Lessees) Ltd.

22. East India Commercisal Co. Ltd.

23. Budge Budge Co. Ltd.

24. Anglo India Jute & Textile Industries Pvt. Ltd.

25. North Brook Jute Co. Ltd.

26. Kanknarrah Co. Ltd.

27. Dalhousie Jute Company

28. Ambica Jute Mills Ltd.

29. Jagatdal Jute & Industries Ltd.

30. Bally Jute Co. Ltd.

31. Prabartak Jute Mills Ltd.

32. Calcutta Jute Mill Co. Ltd.

33. Baranagore Jute Factory Plc.

34. Sunbem Vanijya Pvt. Ltd.



35. Kelvin Jute Mills (Unit: Trend Vyapaar Ltd.)

36. The Assam Co-operative Jute Mills Ltd.

37. G.S. Jute Pvt. Ltd.

38. HSB Agro Industries Ltd.

39. Mahadeo Jute & Industries Limited

40. Agarpara Jute Mills Ltd.

41. Angus Jute Works

42. Kalinga Jute Products Pvt. Ltd

43. The Gasges Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

44. Shaktigarh Textile & Industries Ltds.

45. Delta Ltd.

46. Uma Spinners Pvt. Ltd.

47. Sarada Jute Mills Pvt. Ltd.

Services provided to different organisations related to jute are given below:1. Semuda Corporation

2. CTRONIX

3. Andhapradesh Fibres Limited

4. Jaikishandass Mall Jute Products (P) Ltd.

Services provided to the non-Jute organisations are given below:1. Rujhaan Creations Pvt. Ltd.

2. Filter & Protect

3. MMP Filtration Pvt. Ltd.

4. Birendra Enterprise

5. M D Enterprises

6. Khan Enterprise

7. National Collateral Management Services Ltd.

8. ZamZam

9. Hindusthan Engineering Corporation

10. India Electronics INC

11. Hindusthan Engineering Corporation

12. Mr. R Prakash

13. National Collateral Management Services

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14. Rohan Engineering Enterprise

15. SGS

16. Salam Kayal Chanu

17. Hari Chandekar

18. Consumer and Retail (CRS) Inspection

19. Dolphin Hosiery Pvt. Ltd.

20. SMAP Engineers (P) Ltd.

21. Pathan Yusin

22. Dr. Anindyo Deb

23. BTRA

24. Sethia Fibres

25. Skylark

26. Elar Medical

27. Antara Enterprises

28. Kanchan Enterprises

29. United Technologies

30. Mina textiles

31. SGKK Industries

32. Bijan Candra Singh

33. SASMIRA

34. Assam Engineering College

35. Classic Tailors

36. Aparna Singha

37. Bankura Multipurpose Welfare Society

38. Premier Digital Solution Pvt. Ltd.

39. Domkal & Jalangi Block Level Cluster under Mega Cluster Murshidabad

40. H.A. Garments

41. SplenderVinimay Pvt. Ltd.



Services given to different Govt. organisations are given below:

1. Kolkata Port Trust

2. Directorate of Disaster Management, Govt. of West Bengal

3. Office of the Jute Commissioner

4. National Co-operative Consumers Federation of India Ltd.

5. The West Bengal state Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society Ltd. (Tantuja)

6. Refugee Handicrafts

7. The West Bengal State Handicraft Co-Operative Society Limited

8. The West Bengal Handicrafts Development Corporation (Manjusha)

9. Rajya Beej Krishi Vikash Nigam Ltd.

10. Bihar Rajya Nigam Ltd.

11. NAFED


Title : Testing services of Chemical and FGJP Testing Division

Team : S.G. Saha (In-Charge), A.C. Deka, S. De, D. Samanta, R.K. Paral, A.R. Dewan, Suraojit Adak, Sanjib Biswas & Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti

• Services on quality assurance of Food Grade Jute Products (FGJP) have been provided to eighteen Jute Mills who has renewed their Process Capability license from IJIRA to manufacture FGJP for the year 2018-19.

• In the same year, total 102 lots (No. of FGJP samples 244) have been inspected, tested as per IJO 98/01 and certified by IJIRA for export. In addition, interim process audit of the manufacturing process of FGJP at 14 licensed mills has also been carried out by IJIRA.

• Total number of chemical tests carried out = 400

• Total number of tests for relief materials (Clothing and garments) of Directorate of Disaster Management performed = 2200

• Number of Blanket tested for blend composition – 412 samples

Technical Services : Pilot scale experimental trials on brightening of jute fibre of dark colour have been carried out in two jute mills viz., Dalhousie Jute Company and RDB Textiles Ltd. (Unit: Victoria Jute Mill) by application of brightening agent at the batching stage.

80 |




Title : Quality inspection of B. Twill Jute bags under Jute-Smart

Group : S K Chakrabarti, Palash Paul, Partha Sanyal and Gopal Mukhopadhyay

As a nominated Inspection Agency by the Office of the Jute Commissioner, IJIRA is conducting pre-despatch quality inspection of jute bags purchased under JPM Act. 1987 through Jute-Smart. Presently IJIRA is conducting the said inspection on behalf of West Bengal Essential Commodities Supply Corp. Ltd., Food and Civil Supplies Department, UP, Haryana State Warehousing Corporation, Haryana Ago Industries Corporation, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, Tamil Nadu State Seed Development Authority and Tripura Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Dept. In FY 2018 – 19, IJIRA has conducted inspection of 4.7 lakh bales of 50 kg capacity B. Twill jute bags.

Apart from quality inspection of jute bags through Jute-Smart, IJIRA has recently started inspection of jute bags procured by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) as their nominated Inspection Agency.


Title : Quality assurance for relief materials of Disaster Management Department of Govt. of West Bengal

Group : Soumita Chowdhury, S.G. Saha,. K. N. Singh, D. Samanta, Samar De, M Nath, R.K. Paral, Dipankar Das, Swadesh Das, Sajeeb Adak, Surojit, Soumendra Nath Das

A quality inspection program has been under taken on behalf of the Directorate of Disaster Management, Govt. of West Bengal to inspect the quality parameters of different relief materials procured by the Govt. The total quantity of garments and clothing procured by Directorate of Disaster Management for the financial year 2017-2018 (extended in the year 2018-19) and for the year 2018-19 have been tested by IJIRA successfully. All Physical, Visual and Chemical testing have been done by dedicated team of IJIRA. Earning for the above service in the financial year 2017-18 is – Rs. 42,39,272 (excluding tax).




Title : Incentive Scheme for Acquisition of Plant and Machinery (ISAPM)

Teamv : Partha Sanyal, Gopal Mukhopadhyay, Biswarup Nandi, Arindam Das and Joyjit Mukherjee

IJIRA is providing Technical support to the National Jute Board for smooth functioning of ISAPM Scheme for the benefits of Jute Industry and Jute Diversified Products Manufacturing Units. Under this scheme, IJIRA has been involved in making Technical Appraisal Reports (TAR) for various claims made under the said scheme by the Jute mills and has participated in joint inspections. Apart from that, IJIRA is also involved in Vendor registration of indigenous and overseas vendors.

Work Done

• Thirty two numbers of Technical Appraisal Reports have been submitted for Modernization/Up-gradation of Jute Mill under Scheme of ISAPM

• Thirty one numbers of Joint Inspection have been carried out for machinery installed and claimed under ISAPM.

Inspection of four indigenous vendors and twelve type of new machines have been inspected for inclusion under ISAPM Scheme.

SECTION VI

Organizational Highlights(2018-19)

84 |





Organizational Highlights1. MeetingsAnnual General Meeting

52nd Annual General Meeting was held at IJIRA on 8th August, 2018.

Council Meetings

The Council of Management of IJIRA held following meetings during the year 2018-19

(a) 202nd Council Meeting was held on 13th April, 2018

(b) 203rd Council Meeting was held on 15th June, 2018

(c) 204th Council Meeting was held on 2nd November, 2018

(d) 205th Council Meeting was held on 15th February, 2019

Finance and Executive Committee Meetings

Meetings of the Finance and Executive Committee of IJIRA during the year 2018-19

(a) 114th FEC meeting was held on 27th April, 2018

(b) 115th FEC meeting was held on 30th November, 2018

(c) 116th FEC meeting was held on 20th March, 2018

2. Staff 2018-19

(a) Director - Dr. Uma Sankar Sarma

(b) Deputy Directors - Dr. Md. Safikur Rahman (Resigned on 31.12.2018) Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti

(c ) Staff Strength

(i) Under IJIRA Pay Roll

Scientific Staff - 13

Technical Staff - 30

Administrative - 09 Total : 52

(ii) Contractual Staff

Technical - 08

Administrative - 07

(including Medical Officer) Total : 15

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(iii) Outsourced Staff

Technical - 02

Administrative - 03 Total : 05

3. Retirement : 01

Shri Pabitra Kumar Das Technician 31.08.2018

4. Resignation : 01

Dr. Md. Safikur Rahman Deputy Director 31.12.2018

6. Staff Welfare:

Like previous years, the staff members continued to enjoy the benefit of the monthly Medical Allowances including free physician’s services.

7. Library

Library of IJIRA has a very good collection of books and Journals of Agro-Biology and Specially on Jute. The institute library performs and maintains its designated services and activities such as acquisitions of books and journals, classification and cataloguing of document and other documentation works. Library also provides the internet and reprography service to the readers.

a. Acquisition Status as on 31st March, 2019

Type Addition during the year 2018-2019 Total HoldingBooks 17 5061

Bound Journals Volumes 193 8241



b. Online Databases Subscribed

Name of the Database Details

EBSCO – “Textile Technology Complete”

This database contains more than 470 periodical titles and over 905000 records drawn from sources such as books, conferences, theses, technical reports and trade literature. It includes nearly 75 full-text journals and over 50 books and monographs.

EBSCO – “World Textiles” This database covers more than four decades of information relating to developments and innovations in the textile industry. It consists of records from 1970 onwards from different scientific, trade, technical, and economic publications related to textiles. It is also a source of American, British and European patents and International Standards information. It delivers a uniquely comprehensive source of information for anyone involved in textiles.

c. Print Journals / Periodicals Subscribed / Received during the year 2017-18

Foreign Journals / Periodicals (Subscribed) 5Foreign Journals / Periodicals (Gratis) 4Indian Journals / Periodicals (Subscribed) 11Indian Journals / Periodicals (Gratis) 10

External users from other organizations as well as individual research workers consulted IJIRA-Library for their information needs.

Library automation software LIBSYS4 (LS Ease/E Rel. 6.3) has been installed at IJIRA-Library. Database creation and data entry work is in progress. Once data entry is completed, library databases can be searched through internet using Web OPAC.

SECTION VII

Annexures

90 |





ANNEXURE - I

IJIRA COUNCIL OF MANAGEMENT AND ITS COMMITTEES 2018-19

LIST OF COUNCIL MEMBERS 2018-19

Sl. No. Name and Address Sl.

No. Name and Address

Members representing Industry01 Shri Arun Kumar Lohia

Chairman, IJIRA & Managing Director Alliance Mills (Lessees) Ltd. 18, Netaji Subhas Road Kolkata-700001

06 Shri A.K. Kankaria Promoter Bally Jute Co. Ltd. 5, Middleton Street (Ground Floor), Kolkata-700071

02 Shri Manish Poddar Chairman, I.J.M.A. Royal Exchange 6, Netaji Subhas Road Kolkata 700001

07 Shri Raghav Kajaria Director MurlidharRatanlal Exports Ltd. Unit: Gondalpara Jute Mill 15B, HemantaBasu Sarani Kolkata-700001

03 Shri Raghavendra Gupta Deputy Chairman, I.J.M.A. Royal Exchange 6, Netaji Subhas Road Kolkata 700 001

08 Shri Jagdish Sarda Advisor The Empire Jute Co. Ltd 21A, Shakespeare Sarani, 2nd Floor Kolkata-700017

04 Shri Sanjay Hada Vice-Chairman, IJIRA Managing Director Reliance Jute Mills(International) Ltd VNSS Business Centre Ideal Plaza, South Block 11/1, Sarat Bose Road (4th Floor) Kolkata-700020

09 Shri Anirudh Kajaria Director MurlidharRatanlal Exports Ltd. (Unit : Hastings Jute Mill) 15B, HemantaBasu Sarani, Kolkata-700001

05 Shri D.C. Baheti, Managing Director Gloster Ltd., 21, Strand Road Kolkata – 700 001

10 Shri Sushant Kumar Agarwal Director Kamarhatty Co. Ltd. 16A, BiplabiTroilakya Maharaj Sarani Kolkata-700001

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11 Shri Varun Maskara Senior ExecutiveThe Mahabir Jute Mills Ltd. 142A, BetiahataNear Hanuman Mandir Gorakhpur-273209, (U.P)

13 Shri Ghisaram Verma Senior Joint President Birla Corporation Ltd Unit : Birla Jute Mills Birla Building 9/1, R.N. Mukherjee Road Kolkata-700 001

13 Shri Samir Kumar Chandra Director Hooghly Infrastructure Pvt Ltd Unit : Hukumchand Jute Mill P.O. Hazinagar, Dist. 24 Paraganas (N), West Bengal, Pin-743135

14 Special Invitee

Shri Manohargopal LunaniDirectorEast India Commercial Co. Ltd.Unit : Sri Krishna Jute MillsG.T. Road, Eluru-534002Andhra Pradesh

Permanent Members15 Shri Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty

Jute CommissionerGovt. of India, Ministry of TextilesUdyog BhavanNew Delhi-110011

18 Nominees of Ministry of Textiles

Shri H. K. NandaDirector (Jute)Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles,Room No 231A, Udyog Bhavan, New Delhi-110011

16 Shri Kousik ChakrabortyDeputy Jute Commissioner Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles, Office of the Jute Commissioner3rd MSO Building, E & F Wing, CGO Complex, Sector – 1, DF Block, Salt Lake City Kolkata-700 064

19 Nominee of Ministry of Science and Technology

Dr. A MukhopadhyayAdvisor & Head (INSPIRE & FIST Programme )Gov of India, Ministry of Science and TechnologyDept. of Science and TechnologyTechnology Bhavan, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi-110016

17 Shri Arvind Kumar M.SecretaryNational Jute Board3A&B, Park Plaza71, Park Street Kolkata-700 016



20 Nominee of Planning Commission

(Presently Vacant)

21 Nominee of CSIR

Prof. Samit ChattopadhyayDirectorCSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology4, Raja S. C. Mullick Road,Kolkata-700 032

Members Nominated by IJIRA Council22 Dr. Pradip Das

Principal Scientist and In-ChargeAINP on Jute and Allied FibresRegional Agricultural Research Station, Assam Agriculture UniversitySillongani, Nagaon-82 002Assam(representative of Vice Chancellor Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat)

23 Prof. Siddhartha RoyDirectorBose InstituteCentenary BuildingP-1/12, CIT Scheme VII-MKolkata-700054

24 Presently vacant Ex-Officio Member

Dr U.S. SarmaDirector IJIRA 17, Taratala Road, Kolkata-700088

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Members of Research Advisory Committee (RAC)1. Shri Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty, Jute Commissioner - Chairman

2. Shri Arvind Kumar M., Secretary, National Jute Board

3. Shri Kousik Chakraborty, Deputy Jute Commissioner

4. Shri Manish Poddar, Chairman, IJMA

5. Shri A. K. Lohia, Chairman, IJIRA, Managing Director, Alliance Mills (Lessess) Ltd.

6. Shri Sanjay Hada, Vice-Chairman, IJIRA, Managing Director, Reliance Jute Mills (International) Ltd.

7. Shri S. K. Agarwal, Vice-Chairman, IJIRA, Director, Kamarhatty Co. Ltd

8. Shri D. C. Baheti, Managing Director, Gloster Ltd.

9. Shri S. K. Chandra, Chief Executive (Works), Hukmchand Jute Mills

10. Shri Anirudh Kajaria, Director, MERL, Unit: Hastings Jute Mills

11. Shri Ghisaram Verma, Senior Joint President, Birla Jute Mills

12. Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA – Convener

Finance and Executive Committee (FEC)

1. Director of the Association, Ex-Officio Chairman

2. Deputy Director of the Association

3. Chairman, IJMA

4. Chairman, IJIRA

5. Jute Commissioner or his nominee

6. Secretary, NJB or his nominee

7. Chief Finance Officer, National Jute Board (Nominated member from IJIRA Council), Presently vacant

8. Vice-Chairman, IJMA (Nominated member from IJIRA Council)

9. Chief Administrative Officer, IJIRA

10. Vice-Chairman, IJIRA

11. Admin Officer, Office of the Jute Commissioner

12. Shri S. K. Chandra, Chief Executive (Works), Hukmchand Jute Mills

13. Shri Ghisaram Verma, Senior Joint President, Birla Jute Mills

14. Shri Harsha Nahata, Director, Kamakshi Jute Industries Ltd.

15. Shri Jagdish Sarda, Advisor, The Empire Jute Co. Ltd



ANNEXURE – II

Representation of IJIRA in outside committees (BIS)

Sl. No. Sectional Committee Representative of IJIRA

01. TXDC Main Committee Dr U.S. Sarma, Director IJIRADr S. K. Chakrabarti (Alternate)

02. Composition of Physical Methods of Test Sectional Committee – TXD 01

Smt.Soumita Chowdhury Shri D. P. Gon (Alternate)

03. Composition of Jute and Jute Products Sectional Committee – TXD 03

Shri Palash Paul Shri Partha Sanyal (Alternate)

04. Composition of Textile Sizing, Finishing Materials and Dyestuffs Sectional Committee TXD - 07

Dr. S. K. ChakrabartiDr. Sandip Bose (Alternate)

05. Composition of Cordage Sectional Committee, TXD 09

Shri Palash PaulShri Partha Sanyal (Alternate)

06. Composition of Geotextiles and Industrial Fabrics Sectional Committee – TXD 30

Shri Palash Paul Dr. Mahuya Ghosh (Alternate)

07. Industrial Fabric Sectional Committee – TXD 33

Shri D. K. Biswas Shri Partha Sanyal (Alternate)

08. Technical Textile for Agro-tech Section Committee, TX-35

Dr. Mahuya GhoshShri D. K. Biswas (Alternate)

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ANNEXURE - III

IJIRA Events (Seminars, Conferences, Meetings, Workshops and Visits)

Organization/Participation in Conference.

l On 16th July 2018, afternoon Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA had proceeded to Malda district to attend the Farmers’ Awareness Programme on Faster Retting of jute plants using IJIRA-SUBHRA, organized by IJIRA, held on 17th July, 2018. The programme was organized at Nazrul Bhavan, Kaliachak Block-I. Shri ParthaSanyal, Scientist, Mr. Abdur Rahman, Field Co-ordinator, Mr. Abdulla, Field Assistant from IJIRA organized the programme. Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, Deputy Director and Principal Investigator of the project made a power point presentation. Director, IJIRA highlighted the positive attributes of using IJIRA-SUBHRA. This was followed by interactive session with the participating farmers. Mr. Khusbur Ali, a progressive farmer also participated and discussed about the problems faced by jute growing farmers and the problems occurred during the retting season at Malda. About 100 farmers from nearby places attended the programme and showed keen interest to use IJIRA-SUBHRA for retting process.

l On 22nd June 2018, Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA had attended the meeting taken by Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Honble Minister of Textiles, Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles at Udyog Bhavan, on the issues concerning “Defence Related Technical Textiles”. Shri Anant Kumar Singh, Secretary to Govt. of India Ministry of Textiles, Ms. Kavita Gupta, Textiles Commissioner and representatives from other departments under Ministry of Textiles and TRAs also attended the meeting. Director, IJIRA had informed about the work done on jute fibres and its uses in defence lines such as jute geotextiles, jute based sand bags, jute repellent bags and jute based sanitary napkins and adult diapers. The minutes of the meeting is enclosed.

l On 23rd Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA had attended the meeting of Stakeholders on “Natural Fibres” chaired by Honble Minister of Textiles, Govt. of India. Secretary (Textiles).

l On 10th May 2018, Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA had gone to New Delhi to attend the National Award Ceremony of NRDC. IJIRA Team was led by the undersigned and comprises of the following officers: Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, Deputy Director, Shri S. G. Saha, Scientist, Dr. Sandip Bose, Scientist, Shri A. C. Deka, Scientist and Mr. A. R. Dewan, Technical Officer. Dr. Subrata Gupta, Principal Secretary, Water Resource Investigation & Development Department, Govt. of West Bengal, joined as Team IJIRA for the said Award function.

On 11th May 2018, on the auspicious occasion of 20th National Technology Day the event was organized at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The ceremony/programme was inaugurated by the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind. IJIRA received the NRDC-National Meritious Societal Award for the Development of Low Cost Compostable Jute Based Sanitary Napkin with natural absorbent material for the women of rural India. The award was presented by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.



Meetings and SummitsVisit from Bangalore

Mr. Anirudh Katti, Director, DWAIL Private Limited visited at IJIRA, on FY 2019-20 event with a view to explore the possibility of blending of Cotton bast fibre with jute. Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, Dy. Director IJIRA along with Ms. Soumita Chowdhury, Mr. Palash Paul and Mr. Partha Sanyal discussed the matter with Mr. Katti. Mr. Katti was willing to send a letter of interest to the Director, IJIRA seeking permission to start a project with IJIRA on cotton bast fibre and jute blending.

Visit by Shri Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty, IDAS, Jute Commissioner for review of the projects being carried out for Hill slope stabilization in the State of Meghalaya using Jute Geotextiles on 27th April 2019.

A visit was made by Shri Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty, IDAS, Jute Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India on FY 2019-20 event to examine the condition of hill slope which was stabilized using Jute Geotextiles a year ago. Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India had approved 06 numbers of projects for hill slope stabilization in the State of Meghalaya namely, 02 projects under PWD, Nongstoin Division, 02 projects under PWD, NH-Shillong Byepass Division and, 02 projects under PWD, Jowai Division. The projects were sanctioned by the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, “Scheme for promoting Usage of Geotechnical Textiles in the North Eastern Region”. The total Jute Geotetiles applied area in the said six projects was of 1,35,850 square meter.

Jute Commissioner visited a project site located at 12th Mile ST Road, NH40 in East Khasi Hills which was earlier very prone to excessive erosion. The visit was accompanied by Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA, Shri Palash Paul, Scientist, IJIRA and officials from PWD, Govt. of Meghalaya namely, Shri D. Langstang, Executive Engineer of North Jowai Division, Shri K. Nongsteng, AEE of NH- Shillong Bye Pass Division amongst others. It was observed that areas where geotextile is not applied got eroded, while, geotextile covered areas are in good condition with grasses all around which will eventually control soil erosion even if Jute geotextile is degraded. Jute Commissioner mentioned that seminar and workshops need to be conducted to generate more awareness about jute geotextile’s effectiveness in Meghalaya and other North Eastern States.

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Visit of Secretary (Textiles) To IJIRA on 21st September 2018

Shri Raghvendra Singh, Hon’ble Secretary to Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles along with Shri A. Mahukumar Reddy, Jute Commissioner visited IJIRA, on 21st September 2018 at 11:00 am. Hon’ble Secretary (Textiles) was accompanied by Shri K. V. R. Murthy, CMD, JCI, Shri Arvind Kumar M., Secretary NJB and Shri Dipankar Mahto, Deputy Jute Commissioner. This occasion was attended by Members from IJMA, Council Members of IJIRA, Personnel from Jute Foundation, JPDEPC and designated guests from the industry.

Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director IJIRA and Dr. S. K. Chakraborti gave a warm welcome to Hon’ble Secretary (Textiles) and Jute Commissioner. Thereafter, Secretary (Textiles) paid visit to IJIRA laboratories, library and pilot plant areas followed by brief felicitation and introductory session.

After the introduction Director, IJIRA requested Hon’ble Secretary (Textiles) to address the session with his valuable and kind words.

Hon’ble Secretary (Textiles) mentioned that he is very much impressed after visiting IJIRA library, laboratories and pilot plant which are very much well maintained. Secretary (Textiles) encouraged to maintain the reputation and legacy of IJIRA by carrying out research works at the next level.

Thereafter an interactive session was held with Scientists and Technologists of IJIRA and other visiting dignitaries where Hon’ble Secretary (Textiles) asked to give future aspects and solutions to grow the jute industry in a more commercially viable manner. He urged that focus should be given on development and marketing of more and more JDP products such as jute based Sanitary Napkin which itself is a campaign of ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ or ‘Swach Bharat Abhiyan’. He informed that Hon’ble Prime Minister of India ha skeen interest about Geotechnical Textiles for various developmental schemes in the coming years. He suggested collaborations with Textile and Fashion Industry which will be a step towards commercialization. Value addition like Design and packaging of a product is very important for the commercial aspect which will be the Visual Merchandising of the product.

Coming to the discussion on the industry sector, Secretary (Textiles) spoke about the diversification of jute products to the industry members present there. He encouraged industry members to initiate making of new jute based diversified products developed by IJIRA other than concentrating only in jute bags. He mentioned even the exporters can start marketing these diversified products in international markets where plastics are banned and jute can be the replacement. Secretary (Textiles) suggested that that this step will definitely increase in the income. Further, he also wanted to know about the challenges faced by the industry. The industry members informed that Proper Communication between mills and JPDEPC units are lacking due to which proper product pool is not created. Production League Time is another challenge to meet by the mills. Scientists of IJIRA suggested to develop and utilize a Jute Mark or Logo which will be beneficial for the entire jute industry.



Hon’ble Secretary informed that planning to develop a Design Studio in Delhi is the prime agenda. This Digital Set up will have connections with all other cities of India, which will create a database of information for the entire jute sector.

Visit of French Delegation to IJIRA on 28th September, 2018

A delegation of four members from France paid visit to IJIRA on 28th September, 2018. The team was led by Mr. Pierre BONO, Managing Director, FRD. The meeting was coordinated and organized by Mr. Sohbit Manchanda, Trade Officer, Industry and Cleantech, Business France. Among other visiting dignitaries representatives from FRD, Centrale Supélec and CETELOR were present.

l FRD - a private innovation company that promotes the emergence and development of innovative application for biomass-derived plant fibres

l Centrale Supélec - a research Department focused on the promising field of bio-economy, namely bio-processes and biosourced materials

l CETELOR - is a laboratory dedicated to research and development and designing and prototyping of complex and technical textiles

Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA along with deputy directors Dr. Md. S. Rahman and Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, welcomed the delegation. All Scientists and Technologists of IJIRA were present in the meeting. An introductory session was held followed by a brief presentation about IJIRA, given by Shri Palash Paul, Scientist, IJIRA. Thereafter, Director, IJIRA put some light on the various aspects of jute industry and their challenges in India. All scientists had also discussed about their specialized areas of work with all recent developments and way forward planning in research. The topics covered by Scientists included fibre extraction, composites, jute geotextiles, extraction of various value added chemicals from jute, product designing, various machinery development, green technology, quality control etc. The foreign delegation also shared their areas of works and future aspects in the field of composites, moulding of fibres, energy facilities, extraction of various chemicals from fibres to be used by cosmetics industry, new methods of quality control etc.

After the above discussion, Director, IJIRA composed 3 different groups with the members of delegates and scientists and technologists of IJIRA with 3 different topics of discussion. The discussion yielded some positive approach and the meeting concluded with vote of thanks.

Visit of Jute Commissioner to IJIRA on 20th November 2018

Shri Moloy Chandan Chakrabortty, Jute Commissioner, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India along with other officials of Office of the Jute Commissioner visited IJIRA, on 20th November 2018 at 10:30 am.

Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director IJIRA welcomed the Jute Commissioner. Thereafter, the Jute Commissioner paid visit to IJIRA laboratories, library pilot plant areas and exhibition cum

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display room followed by brief felicitation and introductory session. After the introduction Director, IJIRA requested the Jute Commissioner to address the scientists’ of the institute. An interactive session was held with Scientists and Technologists of IJIRA. He was informed about various projects sanctioned by Ministry of Textiles and updated on research activities carried out at IJIRA.

The Jute Commissioner also planted a tree at IJIRA premises.

Visit of Debashish Nayek at IJIRA

Shri Debashish Nayak, Members Secretary, Heritage Conservation Committee, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, visited IJIRA on 19th December, 2018 along with Ms. Lata Bajoria. A meeting was held at the Director’s Office with Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA and Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, Deputy Director, IJIRA.

It was decided in the meeting to develop a course material for the general public with diagrams and sketches beginning from jute crop to final products and its market utilization in the country and abroad. A museum pertaining to the history of jute, the old processing equipments and modern machinery/equipments in the form of models and actual machines wherever possible is proposed to be set up in the premises of M/s. Hukumchand Jute Mills for which background works are required to be done in terms of formation of a core group comprising of different institutes and industry representatives.

Visit of Deputy Jute Commissioner, Shri Koushik Chakraborty, at IJIRA on 21st January 2019.

As per the decision of the 9th Project Approval and Monitoring Committee (PAMC) meeting held on 26th November 2018, a team led by Shri Koushik Chakraborty, IOFS, Deputy Jute Commissioner, has visited IJIRA and interacted with the scientists regarding different scientific projects including the projects sanctioned by Ministry of Textiles. The committee had seen the working of IJIRA developed Roller Drafting Machine and suggested a few modifications.

Meetings Attended.

l Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA had attended the Stakeholders Meeting, on 14th May 2018, chaired by Hon’ble Union Minister of Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani. The meeting was held at Speaker Hall, Constitution Club of India, Rafi Marg, New Delhi. In the meeting newly formed scheme named “Samarth”- Scheme for Capacity Building in Textiles Sector, under the Skill India Mission was discussed.

l On 2nd May 2018, Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA had attended the Board meeting of National Jute Board (NJB), chaired by Shri Anant Kumar Singh, Secretary to Govt. of India, Ministry of Textiles. Director, IJIRA had informed about this year’s programme regarding the application of IJIRA-SUBHRA under the faster retting technology developed by IJIRA, in 10,000 hectares of jute cultivating area.



l Shri Th. Basanta Singh, Officer in Charge, IJIRA-NERC, Guwahati attended meeting to review the status of projects sanctioned under the Scheme for Promoting usage of Geotechnical Textiles in North Eastern Region held on 27th August 2018 at 11.00 AM in Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary (Technical Textiles), MoT.

l Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA along with Shri Th. Basanta Singh, Officer in Charge, IJIRA-NERC, Guwahati attended the Review Meeting held under Chairmanship of Joint Secretary (NERTPS) at Guwahati.

l Geotextiles meeting at BRO office Tejpur, Assam on 20th Dec 2018

Shri Th Basanta Singh, OIC, NERC – IJIRA attended meeting on Geotextiles at BRO office,

l Review meeting on geotextiles (Jute) under the scheme for promoting usage of geo-textiles in the State of Manipur

Shri Th Basanta Singh, OIC, NERC – IJIRA attended meeting held on 10th January 2019 at office chamber of by Chief Engineer, RED/MSRRDA

l Meeting on study Group to analyse the suitability of Geotextile material at Hq. Addl Dir Gen., Boarder Road (East)

Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA along with Shri Th. Basanta Singh, Officer in Charge, NERC-IJIRA attended the meeting held at Hq. Addl Dir Gen., Boarder Road (East), Guwhati on 21.01.2019.

l Shri Palash Paul, Scientist, IJIRA attended "Consultative Meeting for Procurement of 10% of Jute Bags through GeM " at GeM SPV, Jeevan Bharti Building, New Delhi on 15.01.2019.

l On 17th January, 2019, Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA had attended the meeting with NRDC and it has been decided that the representatives of Tamil Nadu Women’s Development Corporation along with the representatives of NRDC will visit IJIRA during the 1st week of February.

l On 18th January, 2019, Dr. U.S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA had attended the meeting taken by Shri Sanjay Sharan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles. IJIRA had submitted 2 new project proposals for funding support from the Ministry. The projects are: 1. Development of Bio-compostable Laminated/Coated Jute Carry Bags and 2. Microencapsulated Insect Repellent Jute Bags for Foods grains.

l On 26th February, 2019, Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA accompanied by Dr. S. K. Chakrabarti, Deputy Director, IJIRA and Shri Debkumar Biswas, Scientist and P.I. of the project “Development of Jute based Textile Preforms and Pultruded Composite Products” had proceeded to Jodhpurto M/s. Ercon Composites and had discussions with Shri Mukul Maheshwari and the other partners of the company, with regard to taking further experiments by utilizing jute yarn and jute slivers. One sample of treated jute yarn which was sent to the above party earlier was converted into a product in the presence of the undersigned during the visit.

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State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC) Meeting at Manipur

l The 7th SLCC, Manipur, under the Scheme for Promoting Usage of Geotechnical Textiles in North East Region held under the Chairmanship of Dr. Suhel Akhtar, IAS, Addl Chief Secretary (Works), Govt of Manipur on 11.05.2018 at 3.00 pm was attended by Shri Th. Basanta Singh, Officer in Charge, IJIRA-NERC, Guwahati where the committee recommended 07 new alternatives PMGSY road for substitution of old 07 road and also recommended 83 new projects of road construction and hill slope stabilization to IJIRA for carrying out TEV studies.

Project Approval & Monitoring Committee (PAMC) and meetings under NERTPS

l Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA along with Shri Th. Basanta Singh, Officer in Charge, IJIRA-NERC, Guwahati attended the 12th meeting of Project Approval and Monitoring Committee (PAMC) under North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) held on 09.08.2018 under Secretary, Textiles.

BIS Meetings

l On 29th November 2018, at BIS Office, Mumbai, Dr. U. S. Sarma, Director, IJIRA attended the Meeting of the Composites and Speciality Fibres Sectional Committee, TXD 40 under which formulation of Indian Standards for terminology, testing, code of practice and specifications for technical textiles made of composites and speciality fibres were discussed and Technical Textiles for Sportech Applications Sectional Committee, TXD 37 under which formulation of Indian Standards for terminology, testing, code of practice and specifications for technical textiles for sportech applications such as indoor and outdoor sports, recreational facilities and equipment were discussed. In both the committees the membership of IJIRA has also been included. The specifications for sportech and technical textiles will include the jute based products also like sanitary napkins, composites, geotextiles etc.

l Shri Palash Pal, Scientist and Shri Partha Sanyal, Scientist attended 33rd meeting of TXD 03 of BIS on 01.03.2019 held at Kolkata Regional Office, BIS.

RAC Meeting

l The 8th Research Advisory Committee (RAC) Meeting of IJIRA was held on 18th May, 2018. The 9th Research Advisory Committee (RAC) Meeting of IJIRA was held on 8th August, 2018, the 10th RAC meeting was held on 30th November, 2018. The 11th

Meeting was held on 20th March, 2019, at IJMA.



ANNEXURE - IV

Publications.

Papers Published.

1. Ghosh, M., Rao, G. V., Chakrabarti, S. K., Pal, S., Sarma, U. S. 2019. Biodegradability study to develop longerlife jute geotextiles for road applications, Textile Research Journal, published online 13th February, 2019, 11 pages. DOI:10.1177/0040517519828985

2. Ghosh, M., Rao, G. V., Banerjee, P. K., Pal, A., Sarma, U. S. 2018. Development of New Jute Geotextiles for Use in Roads, Indian Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Improvement, Vol. 7, No. 2, July, 2018, pp.20-41. ISSN : 2277-5625 (Print)/ 2277-5633 (Online)

International Conference papers

1. Dr.Mahuya Ghosh, Scientist, IJIRA, presented an R&D paper on “Laboratory Performance Evaluation of New Types of Jute Geotextiles for Rural Roads” in the International Symposium Geotechnics of Transportation Infrastructure 2018, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, 07-08 April, 2018.

2. Dr.Mahuya Ghosh, Scientist, IJIRA,received“Appreciation Award” conferred by Indian Chapter of International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) in recognition of the contributions to the mentioned society. Conferred on 07th March 2019 at IIT Gandhinagar.

3. Dr. Mahuya Ghosh, Scientist, IJIRA, invited as “Resource Person” by Department of Handloom & Textiles, Govt. of Tamilnadu and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles & Management, Coimbatore to deliver a technical lecture on “Application of Geosynthetics in Smart Cities”.

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