The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has launched a Rs 38.72-crore project to modernise and upgrade 21 cotton fibre testing laboratories across major cotton-producing states in India.
BIS is providing direct financial support to establish high-precision testing facilities in critical regional nodes, according to an official statement.
The laboratories are spread across the northern, central, southern and eastern regions, covering major cotton-producing states including Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
The project, being implemented under the Department of Consumer Affairs, will equip laboratories operated by the Textiles Committee, Power Loom Service Centres and the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) with modern testing equipment to assess cotton fibre quality and impurities.
According to BIS, 14 High Volume Instrument (HVI) Testers and 28 Trash Analysers have already been installed and commissioned across 13 laboratories. These include 11 laboratories operated by the Textiles Committee and two by CCI.
The upgraded testing network is aimed at establishing standardised quality parameters across the cotton-to-textile supply chain and strengthening testing infrastructure for cotton producers and other stakeholders.
BIS also stated that the initiative will help address gaps in regional testing infrastructure and support quality assessment of Indian cotton for domestic and international markets.
