Singhania: Big move

Mumbai, March 31: Raymond Ltd, the textiles and apparel major, today announced that it will invest Rs 100 crore to increase its denim capacity by 10 million metres per annum.

Following the expansion, which will be carried out at the Yavatmal unit, Raymond?s denim capacity would go up to 40 million metres in the next 12 months.

Briefing newspersons on the expansion programme, chairman and managing director Gautam Singhania said, ?This investment will help us meet the demands for speciality denim. Over a period of time, I hope to export most of the denim products as high value-added jeans wear to the best labels worldwide.?

In an effort to achieve this goal, the company has set up EverBlue Apparel Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary, he added. It is Raymond?s 10,000-pieces per day state of the art jeans-wear facility in Bangalore.

While the firm sees enormous opportunity in the denim segment, the post-quota regime is only adding to its optimism. The company has, therefore, identified denim as a thrust area to enhance its global presence.

Earlier, Raymond had raised denim output at the Yavatmal unit to 30 million metres from 20 million metres.

The company exports 60 per cent of its products and this level will be maintained even after the increase in production, said Singhania. It is also planning to rope in major global brands as clients.

At present, Raymond is among the top two producers of denim in India. The products are exported to over 30 countries and are being used by various brands, including Levis, GAP, Zara and store brands like H&M and Next. The proposed hike in Raymond?s denim capacity comes just a day after it raised its investment in a joint venture with Gruppo Zambaiti, the textiles major from Italy.

According to the revised investment outlay, around Rs 200 crore will be infused in the joint venture, up from Rs 180 crore committed earlier. The capacity of this facility has also been hiked to 11.5 million metres from 10.5 million metres. Raymond has identified Kolhapur in Maharashtra for the greenfield facility to make fine cotton and cotton-linen shirting fabric.

Raymond had also announced plans to invest Rs 100 crore for setting up a worsted fabric facility.