Advanced textile solution for tricolour developed by IIT Delhi startup, Flag Foundation of India

As per a statement, material for the flag has been selected and designed specifically to make it durable for extreme weather in the country's diverse climatic and geographical conditions, without being too heavy.

An MoU was recently signed between the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi and the Foundation to execute the associated research and development activities via the startup.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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