Does dyeing really use 87% of the Tiruppur knitwear cluster's energy, or does that depend on which sample unit is multiplied?
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Tiruppur manual totals 817,965 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) by multiplying one sample unit by each type's unit count, always the larger of its two. With the smaller sample units the total is 304,500 and dyeing is 80% of it.
How the 817,965 toe is built
- Dyeing: 1,252 toe x 570 units = 713,640. Compacting: 295.5 x 250 = 73,875. Knitting: 33 x 750 = 24,750. Computer embroidery: 5.7 x 1,000 = 5,700. The four add to 817,965, as printed.
- Bleaching (150 units) and stitching and finishing (500) are left out as negligible. Dyeing is 713,640 of 817,965, 87.2%.
Which sample unit gets multiplied
The manual shows two sample units for each type. Dyeing: 425 toe and 1,252. Compacting: 176 and 295 (the cluster table prints 295.5). Knitting: 19 and 33. Embroidery: 4 and 5.7. Every cluster line uses the larger of the two.
With the smaller sample units: 242,250 + 44,000 + 14,250 + 4,000 = 304,500 toe, and dyeing is 79.6%. With the average of the two, about 561,000 toe, and dyeing is 85.2%. The 817,965 and the 87% hold only if every unit were as big as the larger sample. Dyeing leads in all three cases; the size of the total does not.
Unit counts also differ slightly: 570 dyeing units in the type table, 569 in the capacity table.
A check on the labels
The sample dye houses are headed 624 and 1,120 'TPD' (an abbreviation the manual does not define). The manual's specific energy table gives 0.71 kilowatt hours (kWh) and 4.0 kilograms (kg) of fuel for each kg dyed. Take the larger unit: 561,702 kWh / 0.71 = 791 tonnes, and 3,168 tonnes of fuel / 4.0 = 792 tonnes. Those agree, at about 792 tonnes of fabric a year. The smaller unit does not: 102,128 / 0.71 = 144 tonnes against 1,040 / 4.0 = 260.
So the specific energy table fits the larger sample only, at about 792 tonnes, which is neither its 1,120 label nor the 1,000 to 6,000 tonnes a year in the capacity table. The manual does not say why. Treat unit-level and cluster-level figures as separate.
What to take from it
- Quote dyeing as the largest share, and say the 87% uses the larger sample unit for every unit.
- Do not divide the cluster total by units to benchmark your own dye house. Use your own kWh and fuel tonnes per kg dyed, from bills and the dyeing register.
The cluster total at three unit sizes
- Larger samples: 713,640 + 73,875 + 24,750 + 5,700 = 817,965; dyeing 87.2%
- Smaller samples: 425 x 570 = 242,250; 176 x 250 = 44,000; 19 x 750 = 14,250; 4 x 1,000 = 4,000; total 304,500; dyeing 79.6%
- Averages: dyeing 838.5 x 570 = 477,945; total about 561,000; dyeing 85.2%
- Larger dye house, fabric implied: 561,702 / 0.71 = 791 t; 3,168 / 4.0 = 792 t
Unit toe and the specific energy figures are from the manual, dated 2011. The smaller-sample and average totals are our arithmetic, to show sensitivity, not alternative results. The conversion between kWh and toe is implied by the manual's tables, not printed.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so your kWh and fuel tonnes are on file; the per kg figure needs kilograms you supply.
Sources: BEE, Manual on Energy Conservation Measures in Textile Cluster, Tirupur (SAMEEEKSHA)
Last reviewed 2026-11-06. Figures are from BEE's manual, dated 2011. Fuel mix and unit counts have changed since.