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 l ...

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 nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

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

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 Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal corporation, Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East ...

, Fuel Research Institute in Dhanbad,

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 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 Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

, Jalandhar,

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help· info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations ...

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 National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) is an autonomous institute that offers courses in fashion, designing, technology, and management. Its head office is located in New Delhi, India. History NIFT was established in 1986 under the ...

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 oi ...

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 Gopalasamudram Narayanan Ramachandran, or G.N. Ramachandran, FRS (8 October 1922 – 7 April 2001) was an Indian physicist who was known for his work that led to his creation of the Ramachandran plot for understanding peptide structure. He wa ...

developed a triple-helical model of

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix found in the body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up from 25% to 35% of the whol ...

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 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 Narayanan Chandrakumar (born 1951) is an Indian chemical physicist and a professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He is the founder of the first Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) laboratory in India and is known for ...

, 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