The National Institute of Fashion Technology will undertake a study to come up with a size chart for Indians, PTI reported on Thursday. NIFT, which is under the administrative control of the textiles ministry, will complete the project over a period of two to three years.
It will cost nearly Rs 30 crore, NIFT Director General Sarada Muraleedharan said. Of this, the textiles ministry will contribute Rs 21 crore and NIFT Rs 9 crore.
To devise the chart, NIFT will use 3D scanners to take body measurements of 25,000 men and women, aged 15 to 65, in six cities – New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Shillong and Hyderabad.
The Ministry of Textiles said the main reason behind the inability to find clothes that fit perfectly is the differences in anthropometric built of people in different geographical regions across the country.
“Indian apparel industry uses size charts that are tweaked versions of size charts of other countries, so returns of the garments are in the range of 20% to 40%, and is increasing with the growth of e-commerce and the main reason for returns are poor garment fit,” the ministry said in a statement, according to PTI.
Once the uniform size chart is available, “even foreign brands in India would carry it”, the chairperson of the NIFT Board of Governors, Rajesh Shah, told PTI.
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