Expansions have started taking place again as leading apparel exporters have announced their plans to invest in near future. In last five months, many companies have announced their expansion plans and few of them have even started working on ground level. Just few days back, Tirupur’s Best Corporation’s factory contraction started as the company is investing Rs. 60 crore in Madhya Pradesh (MP). Indore’s Pratibha Syntex is investing Rs. 110 crore and Bengaluru’s Gokaldas Exports is also investing in MP.
Each project is expected to create employment opportunities for around 4,000 people. Similarly Gokaldas Images is also coming up with a garment factory in Telangana, initially to start with around 500 stitching machines. Few companies are also doing some expansion in Kanpur. Some projects (not all pure expansion but to be more organised and efficient) which were announced earlier, are now geared up as land has been allotted to around 91 companies in Apparel Park, Greater Noida. The construction of these units is expected to start soon. Few more companies’ similar projects are also in pipeline but they are not announcing due to various reasons.
The interesting aspect is that moving one step further, few of the companies are even geared up for expansions in later phase and things are planned for the same. Madhya Pradesh Government will provide 30 acres of additional land to Best Corporation for setting up another unit at a cost of Rs. 150 crore in the same premises. MP’s Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced this while he performed bhumi pujan/ stone laying ceremony of Best Corporation at Nagziri, very near to Ujjain city.
One of the main reason for expansions is that apparel giants don’t have any dearth of business, and even they are expecting more business in future.
Jagdish Hinduja, MD, Gokaldas Images confirmed in discussion with Apparel Resources (AR), “We are expecting good orders in coming time. Our expansion plan will help us to grab this opportunity.”
A. Rajkumar, MD, Best Corporation also shared, “Market sentiments are always positive if you have the right product at a reasonable price, and so we are positive about the market.”
Gokaldas Exports didn’t share information about its expansion plan.
For Best Corporation and Gokaldas Exports, it is their first ever expansion outside their home states. Similarly Gokaldas Images has also moved first time out of Karnataka. Its new factory is in Telangana which will initially have 500 machines.
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Jagdish said, “Yes, many states are offering various kinds of facilities but we selected Telangana due to the credibility of the State Government. Many states come up with promises but don’t fulfil them. Gokaldas Images will manufacture innerwear in this unit.”
- Sewtech Fashion, a sister concern of Shahi Exports to invest US $ 9.26 million in Chattogram EPZ (Bangladesh). It will annually produce 3.36 million pieces of woven tops for ladies, kids and men. This project is expected to create more than 3,000 jobs.
- Grasim Industries has incorporated a joint venture company, viz., ‘Birla Advanced Knits’ for undertaking knits manufacturing business in partnership with Century Textiles and Industries. l Tamil Nadu handloom weavers’ cooperative society will start producing organic wear for international buyers.
- The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) expands khadi product range with launch of babywear.
Similarly, Kitex Garments, Kerala announced to invest Rs.1000 crore in Telangana after scrapping its Rs. 3500 crore project in Kerala due to harassment by Government officials in Kerala. The company (Kitex) got tailor-made incentives by Telangana. Not only this, if senior officials of Telangana are to be believed, around 12 to 13 textile/apparel companies are in the process to finalise their investments in the state.
In Uttar Pradesh, similar claims of senior officials were highlighted in mainstream media but no as such big name, which invested huge recently or will do in future, was not shared.
Along with the expansion, few companies are upgrading their infrastructure, improving their overall working and good thing is that their international associates are supporting them.
For example, the Good Fashion Fund, Fashion for Good initiated fund to drive sustainable manufacturing practices, and signed its first deal with Pratibha Syntex, India’s leading apparel manufacturer. The US $ 4.5 million (approximately Rs. 33.75 crore), long-term loan, will support Pratibha Syntex’s planned capital expenditures for the replacement of machinery and expansion of sustainable equipment in their spinning, processing and garmenting divisions, as well as provide new equipment for the expansion of their activities and facilities.
The new equipment will lead to a significant reduction in water, energy and chemical usage. This will enable the apparel manufacturing giant to meet the manufacturing demands of its clients, whilst furthering their sustainability agenda to meet their climate positive ambitions.
“With the capital provided by the Good Fashion Fund, Pratibha Syntex can invest in securing a sustainable future for our processes which will have positive, compounded effects along the value chain. We’re extremely pleased with the partnership and excited to continue on our journey for positive impact,” said Shreyaskar Chaudhary, MD, Pratibha Syntex.
Along with apparel manufacturers, textile giants are also expanding. Ludhiana-based Vardhman Group is investing Rs. 800 crore in spinning and this project is expected to be completed in the next one-and-a-half years.
S. Pal, Director, Vardhman Group shared with AR, “Along with polices, the major positive aspect is the supportive attitude of the State Government. Policies related to textile industry in the state are like a complete package for the companies.”
Not only big companies are investing in expansion or upgradation, even few SMEs are also on the same track and they are investing well as per their scale of operations.
Kanpur based Ganges Apparel India recently added a new factory of 100 machines and now this company has a total of 150 machines. The interesting aspect is that the company is exporting topwear of equestrian apparels. Pushkar Porwal, Founder & Director of the company claims that it is the first company in Kanpur making such garments for EU market. Apart from equestrian, the company is also making casuals for renowned Indian retailers and brands.
Expecting 100 per cent growth, Pushkar is a Niftian and first gen entrepreneur. He told, “Buyers are sourcing entire range of equestrian apparels from Kanpur as Kanpur is a hub of the same but topwear (jackets and T-shits) in this segment was missing here, so we planned to fill this gap. Now buyers are also happy as they don’t need to explore any other country for topwear.”
The company has invested Rs. 3 crore in the new unit which covers an area 1200 square metres. As far as expansion in Kanpur is concerned, availability of local skilled manpower is one of the biggest attraction for the companies. In fact with the recent lockdown and its effects, labour availability has increased here. And as overheads are less in Kanpur, overall cost of manufacturing is less compared to other hubs.
Be it good business with apparel giant or focusing on different products… one should hope that these expansions will execute as per the planning and will help to grow overall business of the country.
Company expanding New Job creation
Best Corporation 4,000
Gokaldas Images 4,000
Pratibha Syntex 4,000
Gokaldas Exports Not known
Not only apparel manufacturers, leading apparel retailers are also aggressively growing. And few of them are geared up to go public. Womenswear brand GoColors, ethnicwear retailers Manyavar and Fabindia are in the process to bring their initial public offer (IPO).
