Jaya Shree Textiles, a unit of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd., is contemplating another expansion of capacity at its linen factory in West Bengal.
This move comes even as a project to enhance the production by three million metres at the facility is underway at an investment of Rs.100 crore.
Behind the Rs.100-crore plan for fresh expansion is the huge market potential for linen fabrics. The company, according to Aditya Birla Group President-Textile Division S. Krishnamoorthy, commands 75 per cent share in the linen fabric market in the country.
The company is expecting the domestic linen market to grow to Rs.2,500-crore over the next few years. The linen business of Jaya Shree Textiles, he said, was now around Rs.600 crore.
Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, after inaugurating the third ‘Linen Club’ Fabrics exclusive showroom of the company in Tamil Nadu, he said the ongoing capacity expansion from seven million metres at the Rishra plant, located about 30 km from Kolkata, would be completed by August. “We are also proposing another Rs.100-crore capacity expansion programme,” he said, adding the growth seen in the domestic market was the main reason.
The company, focussed on the domestic market, was also looking at exporting to Sri Lanka and Malaysia, he said. “Enquiries are coming from other countries,” Mr. Krishnamoorthy pointed out. The company imported Flax fibre from France and Belgium for the production. The fabric sale contributed to 85 per cent of its linen business.
The exclusive showroom, 76 in the country, offered a range of linen fabrics and ready-to-wear garments, he said.
Tamil Nadu, he said, was a focus market for the company, and it proposed to open an exclusive showroom each shortly in Tirupur, Erode and also in the Union Territory of Puducherry. According to a release, Linen Club is popular with the leading garments brands of India such as Colour Plus, Louis Phillipe, Van Heusen, Wills Lifestyle and Park Avenue.
