Central Leather Research Institute or CLRI is the world's largest leather research institute in terms of

research papers Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or theses. The part of academic written output that is not formally publ ...

and patents. The institute located in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

was founded on 24 April 1948 as a constituent laboratory under the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...

History

Soon after India attained independence in 1947, the first government of the country led by

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

focused on industrialisation. As a part of that, several research laboratories and institutes, such as National Physical Laboratory in New Delhi,

National Chemical Laboratory The National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) is an Indian government laboratory based in Pune, in western India. Popularly known as NCL, a constituent member of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) India, it was established in 1 ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, National Metallurgical Laboratory in Jamshedpur, Fuel Research Institute in

Dhanbad Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur. It ranks as the 42nd largest city in India and is the 33rd largest million-plus urban agglomeration in India. Dhanbad shares its land borders with P ...

Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI) is a Kolkata-based National research institute under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. Established in 1950, it focuses on the area of glass, ceramics, mica, refractories ...

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, were set up across the country. On 24 April 1948, the then Central Minister of Industry and Supply Dr.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee Syama Prasad Mukherjee (6 July 1901 – 23 June 1953) was an Indian politician, barrister and academician, who served as India's first Minister for Industry and Supply (currently known as Ministry of Commerce and Industry) in Jawaharlal Nehru' ...

laid the foundation stone in the

Guindy Guindy is one of the most important neighborhoods of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and is nicknamed as ''The Gateway to Chennai''. The Kathipara junction where Anna Salai, Mount-Poonamallee Road, Inner Ring Road, 100 Feet Road or Jawaharlal Nehru Ro ...

region of

Madras State Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...

awarded to the

and towards expenses for levelling the land and making it suitable for building construction.

Activities

The objective of the institute was to deal with all aspects of the leather industry. It carries out research and development in areas such as adapted preservation methods for new hides and skins, improvement of existing leather with respect to shrinkage and color fastness, tanning and finishing techniques, control of environmental pollution, and product design and development of garments, shoes and other articles. The institute also offers technical assistance through training courses on design development, sample making and fabrication, consultancy, preparation of feasibility reports, quality control, among various other activities. The institute houses departments such as Chemical and Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering Sciences and Information Sciences. Besides this, the institute has four regional extension centers in Ahmedabad,

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

, Kanpur and

Milestones

In 2003, the institute came up with a biological dressing for burn patients that helps in healing second and third degree burns faster and more effectively. In 2004, the institute tied up with National Institute of Fashion Technology to offer professional educational programmes specifically for designing footwear and leather products. In the same year, the institute took up a pilot activity to produce

biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat ( tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil ...

from

rice bran oil Rice bran oil is the oil extracted from the hard outer brown layer of rice called bran. It is known for its high smoke point of and mild flavor, making it suitable for high-temperature cooking methods such as stir frying and deep frying. It i ...

. In 2014 CLRI Scientists launched website to conveniently share real research problems and solutions in research.

Notable people from the institute

* G. N. Ramachandran developed a triple-helical model of collagen using samples provided by the institute during his research in 1954. He was later awarded the 1999 Ewald Prize for his contributions. *

Thirumalachari Ramasami Thirumalachari Ramasami is a former Indian Science and Technology Secretary. He assumed charge in May 2006. Prior to this assignment, he served as the Director of the Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai, India. He is a distinguished r ...

, a former director of the institute, was a renowned chemist. For his contributions, he was awarded the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-la ...

and the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

. He is awarded Padma Bhushan in 2014 * Narayanan Chandrakumar, chemical physicist,

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar OBE, FNI, FASc, FRS, FRIC, FInstP (21 February 1894 – 1 January 1955) was an Indian colloid chemist, academic and scientific administrator. The first director-general of the Council of Scientific and Indust ...

laureate

References

External links

* {{authority control Indian leather industry Research institutes established in 1948 Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Research institutes in Chennai 1948 establishments in India Research institutes in Tamil Nadu Education in Chennai Colleges affiliated to University of Madras