Interview with Seema Srivastava – Executive Director / INDIA ITME SOCIETY
By: Behnam Ghasemi / Middle East – Africa Textile Journal
India International Textile Machinery Exhibitions Society, popularly referred as ‘India ITME Society’ is a non-profit industry body established in 1980 with the sole motto to support and serve the Textile Engineering Industry through Exhibitions & Events.
Q.1. Please let us know more about ITME association, history and success story.
ANS: Success – Born out of necessary 40 years earlier, India ITME Society has established itself as apex body influencing textile and textile engineering industry beyond geographical borders of its country of origin.
Under the umbrella of ITME Society, India witnessed its first Textile engineering exhibition in 1980 and since then the legacy has been successfully carried forward. India ITME Society has connected with many Educational and government institutions as well as 1500 Associations in India and across the Globe.
Events & Exhibitions held by ITME Society stands for quality and innovation, creating a benchmark for MICE industry of India. Exhibition Industry of India has acknowledged India ITME Society for its exceptional service with awards like Excellence in Operations, Corporate Excellence, knowledge Hub, Best use of technology, the Royal show category and the mega quality award.
India ITME Society was conferred jointly by The Economic Times(leading business news daily) & Indian Exhibition Industry Association as India’s top 10 exhibition organisers(2016) and INDIA ITME exhibition ranked as India’s 1st runner up in top B2B exhibition category.
History: Though Textile machinery manufacturing in India was initiated during the pre-independence period, serious development of the industry started post-independence. Then the problems faced by the Indian textile industry in repair and maintenance of the imported machines from Britain were the compelling factors in the establishment of Indian machinery manufacturing units. As the Indian textile industry started growing, growth of domestic textile machinery manufacturing also took off. During 60’s complete range of spinning machinery, weaving machinery and limited range of processing machinery were being manufacturedin India. The Modernisation Scheme of the Government of India and 1985 Textile Policy of the Government helped in modernizing many textile units in the country during the period. Demand for textile machinery started showing a positive trend which helped the domestic textile machinery manufacturing industry.
First Textile engineering event in India.(1971)
Can India afford to boycott Chinese Spun-Bond Fabric and Masks?
The machinery industry felt the need to project its technology before the domestic textile industry. First effort was in the form of an exhibition which took place in 1971 at Backbay Reclamation Ground in Mumbai. The growth of the textile machinery industry was substantial during late 70s and the manufacturers felt it necessary to have a large forum and conduct textile machinery exhibitions of international standard in India.
A plan for establishing an organization for holding international textile machinery exhibitions in India was conceived in 1978-79 by Industry members. It was decided to set up an Organization Committee consisting of representatives of TMMA, the Association of Merchants and Manufacturers of Textile Stores & Machinery (India) (now ITAMMA), Indian Cotton Mills’ Federation (now CITI), Textile Association (India), Indian Standards Institution Govt. Of India, (now BIS). Thus was born India ITME Society and first exhibition was held in 1980.
India ITME Society has been successfully serving the Industry for 40 years now and hosts 3 Mega International Textile Technology events. I.e. India ITME Series , Global Textile Technology Engineering Show (GTTES) & ITME -AFRICA Series.
Dec 2019 marked 4 decades of successful service by India ITME Society and added more vigor towards its responsibilities in facilitating the exchange of knowledge, technology transfer & Foreign Direct Investments & Joint Ventures for Textile & Textile Engineering Industry through many newly announced programs of which focus on developing women entrepreneurship in Textile Engineering sector and Industry-Academic connect program are highlights.
Q.2. Which kind of services do you offer to your members in the textile industry?
India ITME Society supports multiple activities apart from B2B exhibitions that facilitate the growth of the Indian textile industry which today is the second largest after China.
• Business Networking Portal – Facilitating Textile and Textile Engineering Industry year-round to connect with worldwide buyers, sellers, service providers. This portal is complimentary and open to Textile engineering and allied Industry to list products and services for viewership worldwide.
• Education & Research- India ITME Society is Committed to supporting Technology, innovation, modernization of the Textile & Textile Engineering industry through support to education & research. Under this goal, ITME Society provides scholarships to postgraduate students in Textile Engineering courses through approved and premium institutes. Industry-Academic connect programs by India ITME Society facilitates Internship and skilled employment in Textile Industry through placement support program round the year.
• Women Entrepreneurship is encouraged through specific and focused business delegation /b2b meetings and award encouraging startups by women in Textile business.
Q.3. You have an exhibition in Africa called ITME Africa. Let us know more details about ITME AFRICA.
ANS. ITME AFRICA 2020, focused & sector-specific for textile technology & engineering Exhibition was held from 14th – 17th February 2020 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, showcasing 197 exhibitors from 13 countries. This first of its kind B2B technology event received visitors from total 44 countries in 3 days and connected 35 African countries leading to the introduction of new textile technology to the continent and opening up new market opportunities for machinery manufacturers, engineering services and investors.
Exhibitors from 13 countries showcased modern textile technology and engineering products from various sectors including wastewater, recycling, dyestuffs and Chemical products, Pumps and valves, logistics equipment and cotton growing technologies. Six Country pavilions showcased 85 companies from India, Italy 22 companies. Swiss pavilion 12 companies, Turkey 4 companies, Ethiopia 3 companies and China 19 companies.
Financing capital purchases, cotton-growing technology and investment promotion were focus topics for panel discussion and seminars organized concurrently with the exhibition. This exhibition was done with SITA-ITC as Trade & Investment partner, Ethiopian Chamber, ETDI Ministry of Trade, Govt of Ethiopia and Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India as supporting partner.
Africa has tremendous potential to develop its Textile industry provided correct technology and training is made available. The 2nd Edition of ITME Africa will be held in Dec 2023.
Q. 4. As India textile exhibitions association what do you think about Middle East and Africa Textile and Fashion Market and its future? Do you have any special event or program im this region?
ANS: India and the middle east has long trading relations and many fashion designers from India are catering to Middle east clientele. Tarun Tahiliani, Anita Dongre, and Falguni & Shane Peacock, most popular designers from India have a successful presence in Dubai. Retail has always been strong in Dubai and middle east for fashion apparels. What is interesting is now the region is developing manufacturing facilities as well. This is an interesting opportunity for textile industry and also for machinery manufacturers, especially for India, keeping in mind the geographic proximity of the region.
We also value our close ties with Turkey Machinery Association TEMSAD and have an MOU to work closely for a mutually beneficial program. ITM turkey is an event we attend in Istanbul regularly.
Q.4. After pandemic make difficult organizing physical exhibitions, many organizers are planning to run virtual events, what do you think about Online and Virtual exhibitions? Is it a permanent solution or only an alternative for pandemic period?
ANS. Online exhibition surely brings convenience of virtual participation using any device anywhere, any time eliminating the need to travel and also perhaps reducing cost. It is one of the best ways of disseminating information fast without geographical constraints or restrictions.
However, Physical exhibitions always brings much better satisfaction in evaluating business propositions leading to faster and conclusive business decisions. Technology has its plus points, but also limitations. For high-value sourcing decisions, one to one interactions is still preferred. The same goes for investment or joint venture decisions. B2C events probably can be more successful on a virtual platform.
Meanwhile, In order to support the textile business, especially SME’s, affected by COVID Crisis, India ITME Society is organizing a complimentary virtual B2B meeting and technical seminar from 3rd Dec to 5th Dec 2020. This is an add value event provided fully complementary to exhibitors of INDIA ITME series which was scheduled this year. The dates for virtual event coincides with original event date with the objective of providing ITME platform which is the largest and most important marketing event for Indian and S.E textile market. As on date, for this virtual B2B event we have 278 exhibitors from 18 countries and visitors are registered from 31 countries, making it one of the largest virtual shows in Textile engineering so far.
The live event is now postponed one year and now will be held from 8th Dec to 13th Dec 2021 at IEML, one of India’s largest exhibition Venue. We invite industry members to visit India ITME 2021. Namaste.
