Mumbai,Vimal, the flagship textile brand of Reliance Industries, today announced pan-India roll out of its new range of anti-microbial suiting fabrics. The in-house innovation, called DEO2, is thought to be a first for an Indian textile firm. It can arrest growth of fungi and bacteria to keep garments odourless in hot and humid conditions, the company said.

This breakthrough innovation in textiles will give our product a cutting edge in market. It has been found safe for human use, Reliance Industries president (Textile Business) Anand Parekh told newspersons. The company has filed an India patent for this in-house technology developed at its facility at Naroda.

Vimal offers fabrics in the range of Rs 150 per metre to Rs 5,000 per metre, and customers will not have to pay a penny extra for addition of this technology, Parekh claimed.

RIL manufactures more than 12,000 design-shade combinations every year in polyester wool and woollen, polyester viscose and woollen fabrics under the Vimal brand. The size of suiting market in India is to the order of Rs 6,500 to Rs 7,000 crore only for the manmade fibre.

Currently, we are number two in the organized textile sector in terms of market share. With the launch of this new range our share should grow substantially, he said. Our new technology follows American Association of Textiles Colours and Colourist-147 Protocol, the highest protocol for any such fabric to pass, besides certifications from Indian agencies like ATIRA and BITRA, Parekh said.

The company is looking to introduce this technology in the shirting range of fabrics too, he said. Vimal, which has supplies in the defence sector in India, is looking to introduce this fabric range for uniforms for armed forces, besides other government departments.