Coimbatore-based textile machinery manufacturer Lakshmi Machine Works has developed a solar-powered mini spinning frame. Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs), Giriraj Singh, unveiled the machine here recently. The mechanised ring frame with 32 spindles is connected to a 2.5 KW solar energy system and it can produce yarn of 10s to 60s counts. The machine can work on solar energy for nine hours a day – from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The peak production will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The company took up the project under its Corporate Social Responsibility, jointly with the Ministry of MSMEs, and worked on it for three to four months. It will manufacture the machinery in large numbers depending on the orders from the Ministry. According to the Minister, the solar-powered ring frame will benefit the Khadi industry and will revive the sector. He has requested LMW to develop a new machine to produce coir yarn.
Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu, Chairman and Managing Director of LMW, said the solar powered mini ring frame will uplift the rural sector. It will meet the customer needs and reduce power consumption. A solar-powered charka was displayed at the India International Coir Fair here recently and according to the Coir Board chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan, the charka was another project based on the suggestion of the MSME Ministry. It has been distributed to beneficiaries in a couple of villages in Bihar.
Source: The Hindu
