Ronak Brijmohan Chiripal, 32, wanted to be an entrepreneur right from his college days. “Finance was never a problem as the Gujarat-based Chiripal family has been running a well-established textile group for close to three decades,” he says. Having earned a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Nirma University Ahmedabad, he went to Syracuse University, New York, for an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Back home, in 2014 he joined the family business and the processing plant of Chiripal Industries Limited to learn the ropes of the business. He decided to take the plunge and set up Nandan Terry in 2016 as part of the family group. His first dispatch was to Acme Housewares Pvt Ltd with an invoice dated 1 November 2016. Acme continues to buy towels from Nandan Terry. The Ahmedabad-based Chiripal group has a presence in industries such as textiles, education, real estate, packaging and chemicals and offers a wide spectrum of manufacturing, contract manufacturing, trading, distribution and service-related activities in sectors like textiles, education, packaging, infrastructure, petrochemicals, etc. “Today, we are a fully vertically integrated company manufacturing terry towels and towelling products,” says Ronak, the CEO of the company. To meet the market, Nandan also outsources finished towels and woven fabric which further undergo the CSP (Cutting, Stitching, Packing) process at their unit. The company also sells cotton yarn manufactured at its units and woven fabric cloth in the open market. Nandan’s five plants in Gujarat cater to the manufacture of terry towels and towelling products in the B2B segment. Nandan sells its products abroad, including in the US, Canada, Israel, Germany, Hong Kong, Sweden, United Kingdom and Australia. “This has been possible only due to strict compliance with internal quality control and international standards of quality,” explains Ronak adding that “the company is certified by some of the most reputed global certification agencies for our quality, environment consciousness, labour practices, our processes and customer services such as OEKO-TEX, SEDEX, GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), SA 8000, etc”. “Nandan Terry’s revenues from operations for the period ending 30 September 2021 were Rs501.81 crore. For fiscals 2021, 2020 and 2019 it was Rs538.52 crore, Rs429.38 crore and Rs322.16 crore respectively,” says Anshuman Srivastava, CFO. The EBITDA for the period ending 30 September, 2021 was Rs70.11 crore and for fiscals 2021, 2020 and 2019 it was Rs86.82 crore, Rs61.84 crore and Rs50.54 crore, respectively,” he says. The pandemic outbreak caused an economic downturn on a global scale, including closures of many businesses and reduced consumer spending. There was significant market disruption and volatility. The demand for Nandan Terry products was also hit but production and sales resumed quickly as lockdown restrictions were eased. “During the second wave, the lockdown did not halt operations and the factories ran at 75-90 per cent capacity after lockdown,” says Srivastava. Proactive steps Due to an increase in hygiene-related product consumption on account of Covid-19, the market for towel and towelling products has improved and has continued to stay robust with respect to demand. The same applies to the international market. “The company managed to take proactive steps to ensure that the business loss was regained in the forthcoming quarters and we continue to closely monitor the impact that Covid-19 may have on our business and results of our operations,” he says.