Textiles Ministry develops 3 indigenous tools to test heat resistance in protective fabrics

New Delhi: The National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) under the Ministry of Textiles has supported the successful development of three indigenous instruments to test Convective, Radiant, and Contact (Conductive)

Heat Resistance of protective textiles.

Developed by the Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA), the project marks a key milestone in strengthening India’s self-reliant testing capabilities in the technical textiles sector.

The NTTM-funded project—“Indigenously Developed State-of-the-Art Instruments to Test Convective, Radiant, and Conductive Properties of Protective Textiles”—has produced three advanced systems: Convective Heat Tester (ISO 9151), Radiant Heat Tester (ISO 6942), and Contact Heat Tester (IS 12127).

These tools assess thermal resistance in fabrics used for firefighter suits, industrial safety wear, and defence applications.

Designed with fully indigenous technology, the instruments match the performance of imported models but are priced lower, at Rs 5–10 lakh compared to Rs 15–40 lakh for imported ones.

The technology has been transferred to M/s Asian Test Equipment Pvt. Ltd., Ghaziabad for commercialization under the Make in India initiative.

The systems have been validated at Ace Incorporation, Kanpur, and CFEES-DRDO, Delhi, and are now available on Trade India, IndiaMART, and Alibaba.

Indigenous availability has cut testing time from 30 days to 3–5 days and costs from Rs 25,000–Rs 40,000 to Rs 6,000–Rs 10,000 per sample.

Institutions like DRDO have confirmed the instruments’ reliable performance, reinforcing India’s push toward innovation and technological self-reliance in technical

textiles.