COVER STORY aged, it is possible to make in India. If CMAI discusses their specifications and puts it on their site, there are people in this country who can get it done. They just need to specify the type of fabric they are looking for. I am not saying no to fabric import, but it should come at the right value. And suppose it is against exports, and then there is no problem. Even if there is a safeguard duty, if it is against advanced license, then you don’t need to pay that duty. So let exporters import, there is no problem. Otherwise, there has to be safeguard duties or prevention of under-invoicing, which is the biggest problem. Under-invoicing is a big problem in India. People will go to any length to save even 2-3-4-5%.this has to be prevented. We want to add value in India. That is what we have to focus and we want to prevent all this underinvoicing and hanky-panky that needs to be checked. So the authorities need to come up with ideas to control this. TVC: Product Specification: Unique in Product / USP of Product. RA: Our USP is our problem-solving approach & providing appropriate solution. Eg. Solving a need/ a gap of imported fabrics by creating fabric in India for ladies and children’s wear. We provide solutions in terms of quality, supply, Tweaking the features of the product to meet the buyer’s needs. TVC: Pricing Strategy: Competitive / Premium / Lowest. RA:We are a B2B company primarily. So our pricing strategy cannot be premium. We can’t charge premium because it is not a brand. We sell our products on uniqueness, not on price. Price is competitive but not lowest. We provide premium product with competitive price. TVC: Market Focus: Domestic or Export or both (% of each in total revenue). RA:Our Market focus majorly on domestic but we do exports too, but ratio of turnover is 90%(Domestic):10% ( Export). In the domestic turnover, more than 50% is import substitution from China. The world does not know India is making good polyester so direct export is 10% due to challenge of awareness.
May 2017
www.textilevaluechain.com
TVC: Market Share for your product in Domestic / international market
tomers. We are looking for fresh ideas, our mind is open.
RA: In a Sportswear category, I would say we have a market share of more than 20% In the branded segment. In sportswear,there are quality conscious buyers but there is a huge category of footpath buyers and that share we can’t determine. So, there we miss so many players. And similarly other categories also, we are also doing ladies night wear, ladies innerwear. So in that product-wise our share is good, it could be more. Specific product now, in night wear there are cotton knits and there is cotton spandex knits and there is polyester viscose knits and there is polyesters knit also. There are so many categories. So category-wise we have to see. But in each category wherever we are there, we have a good presence and we have market leadership. Every category, our product is the best and that is a core value of the company. We are not into substandard product. We want to exceed customer’s expectations, exceed the market standards.
TVC: Turnover of your company.
TVC: What is your product innovation approach? o In-house R&D centre / Design Team/ Outsource Design. RA: Yes. All the time. This is our full time business. I mean, the founders focus on generating new idea, finding solutions, and creating best product. So we have an R&D centre with qualified team, good set of sampling machines in all segments. Without innovation, you cannot survive. TVC : Inspiration from other international market ? RA: We do take inspiration from international market. We roam around & see the world and we always get inspired. I cannot say that ideas come to me. I’m not Illaiyah Raja. Illaiyah Raja is a music director who does not listen to music. He only creates his own music. We are not that. We are going to markets. We are seeing things and then we are creating multiple products out of it. We are taking inspiration from international market here. Internationally, We participate in HeimTextiles, Germany every year & Some exhibitions we visit to buy machines, visit factories, visit showrooms and visit cus-
RA:Our group turnover is more than 350 crore. TVC: What is your Future plan for next 5 years & 10 years? RA:We have to grow at a furious pace. Already this year we are investing close to 40-45 crores & expanding our knitting, dyeing, printing, garment, and embroidery facilities. This process will go on. We have to cross 1000 crores in five years that is our target. However, there are few challenges that will define the game plan. For example, GST is going to be a major game changer, how it pans out; it could reduce the problem of under-invoicing. Because if you under-invoice, you have to keep doing it at every stage and that may become difficult. So this under-invoicing problem will, if GST falls into place properly, will get reduced and that will reduce imports. At least protect cheap imports or under-valued imports that will give a lot of boost. So then achieving this target won’t be difficult, this involves a year-onyear growth of 25-30% which is possible. Awareness of polyester making in India and safeguard against under-valued imports. If these two things fall in place, we will be able to do it. TVC: Any future generation joining business in next 5 years? RA: My son is only 18 years old and is still studying BBA. My brother has a daughter and she is 11 years old. Maybe in the next 5-10 years. I believe that if you help your people grow, they become part of your family. So in that case, there are lot of people joining in the next 3-5 years. TVC: Why I was asking , because younger generation does not wants to join the textile industry? RA:That is correct. That will also change. See textile has become more and more modern and it has become bigger. Once pay scale will improve, efficiency will improve automatically, it is a vicious cycle. This industry has bright future, as nude will never be a fashion in India.
33