- Bhilwara with 500 units, 12,500 looms and some state-of-the-art process houses, produces about 5 crore metre of PV fabric/month.
- 10-15 major players have a turnover between Rs. 50 to Rs. 800 crore.
- 20 per cent of total production goes for exports.
- Textile Park coming up soon in the region.
Approximately 520 km. from the national capital Delhi and 240 km. from Jaipur, Bhilwara today is the biggest PV (Polyester Viscose) dyed blended suiting manufacturing hub in the world. Sixty per cent of suiting material produced in the country is being manufactured in this town and supplied all over India. Seventy per cent of the total viscose dyed yarn in India is being manufactured in Rajasthan, which includes Bhilwara, Banswara, Dungarpur and Gulabpura that helps Bhilwara fabric manufacturers to offer very competitive prices both in the domestic and international markets. Currently there are over 500 units running in the vicinity having about 12,500 looms and a number of process houses which are manufacturing close to 5 crore metres of suiting fabric every month. Team Apparel Online recently visited this small town for a first-hand update on what the city has to offer in PV fabrics.
The textile city of Bhilwara owes its origin to the pioneer L.N. Jhunjhunwala, the Founder of LNJ Group, the first textile unit in the small Rajasthan district way back in the 1960s. According to Arun Churiwala, Chairman & Managing Director, BSL Ltd., Bhilwara’s growth as a PV manufacturing town is noteworthy considering that nobody in India knew about Bhilwara and ‘polyester’ was alien to the country at that time.
Says Churiwala, “When we started spinning polyester yarn, there was no one to weave it; so in 1971, BSL was established to weave the polyester fabric.”
India is considered a leader in yarn dyed PV fabrics where we can do huge volumes. Suppose a buyer wants 1,00,000 metre yarn dyed PV fabric single shade, we can provide it in one lot without colour variation – S.N. Modani, MD, Sangam (India) Ltd.
It’s interesting that the growth of this textile hub was on a need base. When fabric weaving started, the need for processing facilities was felt as all the grey fabric was being sent to Delhi for processing.
This continued till 1977 when BSL set up the first process house in Bhilwara, the only one between Delhi and Ahmedabad.
L.N. Jhunjhunwala encouraged the local entrepreneurs who were dealing in stones, mica and pressure pumps to put up weaving mills and promised them that he will supply yarns to them at concessional rates.
By 1988, ten units came up in Bhilwara and gradually more and more factories came up with the initiative of local entrepreneurs. Today, there are about 10-15 major players in the centre with turnovers crossing Rs. 50 crore going up to Rs. 800 crore plus. These include Sangam (India) Ltd., Suzki, BSL, RSWM, Goodwill, Jyoti Suiting Pvt. Ltd., Sharda Spintex, Kanchan, Modern, Nitin Spinners to name a few. About 100 players in the city are doing turnover of Rs. 25-30 crore per annum, the rest are small marginal units.
The town also boasts of around 19 process houses with latest processing technology like automatic jigger, cold pad batch machine, calendering machine, latest singeing machines, jet dyeing and beam machines, and Kier de-casting and super finish machines giving finishes like Teflon, chiller, enzyme, perfume and even fire retardant finishes. A few modern process houses are Sangam Processors, Bhilwara Processors, TPL Industries, Ananat Synthetics, Janki Processors, Pooja Spintex, Ranjan Processors, Sona Processors, Chamunda, Rolex, BTM, Ronak, Suzki Synthetics to mention the prominent ones.
The textile manufacturers operating in the region are happy with the processing facilities in Bhilwara, however they agree that there is immense scope of improvement not just in this town, but also in India as a whole. R.N. Gupta, Director, BSL Ltd. admits that China, Japan and Korea’s processing infrastructure is certainly superior to India in piece-dyed fabrics as they have CDR processing system, though India is considered a leader in yarn dyed PV fabrics where we can do huge volumes. “Suppose a buyer wants 1,00,000 metre yarn dyed PV fabric single shade, we can provide it in one lot without colour variation,” states S.N. Modani, Managing Director, Sangam (India) Limited, going to touch Rs. 800 crore turnover this year and exporting PV fabrics to 30 countries.
In piece-dyed fabric, India still needs to upgrade to do volume business. The biggest advantage of CDR processing is continuous run of 2000-5000 metres in one shade within a tolerance level of 0.5 delta in one go.
“No one in India can supply the same shade in a piece-dyed PV fabric beyond 500 metres. Up to 300-400 metres we can give the same shade but beyond that that there will be two processes, twice and still there will be shade variation… may be just by 0.2 delta difference, but it is a variation,” points out Gupta. In India barring one process unit in Ahmedabad, no one has CDR facilities, the reason is simple, investment is huge. CDR for PV would cost nothing less than Rs. 30-40 crore.
Most of the units in Bhilwara are in dedicated industrial zones, on land purchased at a very low-price. This has helped in rapid expansion, but the chronic water problem in the town is still a concern and units have to depend on rainwater. However, the entrepreneurs of Bhilwara didn’t allow scarcity of water to become deterrent in the growth of the cluster. With 19 process houses, processing 5 crore metres of fabric per month, there is requirement of 10-15 lakh litres of water every day. It’s commendable to see that each process house is environment-friendly with its own water treatment plants.
The scarcity of water has compelled the Government to declare Bhilwara as a ‘dark zone’ which means no more process houses can be set up in the area nor can the existing ones go in for expansion. “We are very keen to expand into processing but the regulations are constraining our plans,” says Gaurav Panagaria, Director, Subh Laxmi Syntex Ltd.
In fact, the ban on new processing units has been a damper on exports to the US and EU from the region as most of the buyers prefer to work with integrated mills, rather than outsourcing processing/ finishing facilities, which a majority of Bhilwara manufacturers are compelled to do.
Similar view came from Nikhil Garg, Managing Director, SRS Synthetics, manufacturing fancy range of PV and PC grey fabrics, having a turnover of Rs. 10 crore per annum, looking forward to doubling the turnover in another two years.
Product & Market
Textile manufacturers of Bhilwara are happy with the processing facilities. However, they agree that there is immense scope of improvement not just in this town, but also in India as a whole.
The fabric being produced in Bhilwara is predominantly for the domestic market which includes domestic fabric retailers as well as converters – both domestic and exports. Approximately 20 per cent of the PV fabric is being exported directly out of the hub mainly to Middle East countries, however a few players are also exporting to the US, Europe, Vietnam, Syria, Jordan and Tunisia. It is mostly those companies that have invested in R&D for design, weaving and finishing that are exporting to the US and European markets, while others are mainly working with the Middle East. Though the average cost of per metre piece is between Rs. 65-70, R&D-driven companies like BSL and Sangam are selling at a minimum cost of Rs. 110 per metre.
Yarn and fabric for suiting is the identity of Bhilwara. Poly Viscose (PV) takes 80 per cent share of the production whereas Poly Cotton (PC) and Poly Wool (PW) production accounts for the remaining 20 per cent. Though the range includes different counts and quality, the innovation is with only a few companies. The range available in fabrics for bottoms, from coarser to finer thread counts include – 2/18, 2/30s, 2/40s, 2/50s and 2/60s. The hub is also making 2/80s and 2/100s for shirting. “In the overseas market, stripes, self design, checks, normal twill and plains are more in demand in staple colours like greys, blue, charcoal and olive green,” says Panagaria, whose company has an annual turnover of Rs. 30 crores catering to both the domestic and international markets.
“Diversification has not gained momentum in this area with most of the manufacturers. This is leading to stagnation and severe competition amongst the manufacturers in the area leading to thin margins. Duplication of fabric designs is rampant with smaller players,” says Sanjay Pariwal of Jyoti Suitings who is also the President of the Synthetic Mill Association. Similar views were shared by R.A. Kabra, Joint President, Suzki Textiles Limited. With a turnover of Rs. 400 crore, the company is a mass player of standard fabrics with primary focus on the domestic market, and exports constituting just 10 per cent of the total production. N.K. Jindal, Promoter Aarti Suitings opines, “Our target customer is sitting in smaller towns of India who aspires to wear a well-packaged brand but cannot afford the high-end, and if we talk in terms of exports then the Middle East is our market which is again looking at affordable PV fabric.”
Some of the units have now ventured into new products and started giving focus on developments like space dyed yarns, slub effect and two-tone effect. Reliance, India’s largest producer of polyester fibre and filaments, realized the potential of this market and has taken the lead and initiative to develop new world class specialty products for spinning and weaving that add more value to the ultimate fabric and garment in terms of its look, feel, drape, dye-tone, etc. Some select manufacturers in Bhilwara are also giving different finishes to the PV Fabric right from worsted to TR finish (smooth and glossy finish), Tefflon treatment (fabric doesn’t get wet in snow and drizzling), antibacterial and anti-odour treatments.
Garment manufacturers who are looking for PV fabric can buy fabrics from local wholesale market but if they are looking for customised designs then they can approach mills directly with a minimum order of 100 metres. Madura Garments, Shapes, Blackberry are procuring their fabrics directly from BSL.
Bhilwara, no doubt has shaped up as a very promising hub for textiles. In a year’s time a textile park is also coming up in the region where local entrepreneurs are going to get priority to put up their factories for fabric production informs R.L Nolkha, Chairman, Nitin Spinners Ltd. Above all, this vibrant textile centre is a brilliant example of how a thriving industry can develop from humble beginnings and excel in a niche product not only at home but also overseas.
