“The group has also introduced a seamless garment manufacturing facility with 52 seamless knitting machines that have the capacity to produce 5.4 million pieces per annum” adds Modani pointing out that the Sangam group has celebrated many such milestones in its journey so far. 

Some of them include backward integration to spinning in 1995 with 17,280 spindles of PV dyed yarn, with a further increase to 11,520 spindles in 1998. In 2003, the company built a 10.0 MW coal-based captive powerplant by adding 35,232 spindles. In 2009, it installed 1.13 lakh spindles, 130 weaving machines, 12 knitting machines and captive thermal power plants of 6 and 15 MW.  

The company’s major expansion kick-started in 2014, as the group saw an increase in denim capacity to 35 million metres per annum and installation of state-of-the-art seamless garment machines with capacities of 3.6 lakh pieces per annum, 

The next big step was venturing into the B2C market space with the launch of C9 Airwear, a casual wear and active wear apparel brand for women, in 2015. C9 Airwear is available across 1,000 multi-brand outlets in India and all major digital retail portals such as Myntra, Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart, etc. The group’s flagship brand, Sangam Suitings, operates through a distribution channel and has a pan India network of 10,000 retailers.

SIL, in the past 36 years, has expanded its business verticals across more than 50 countries. In the last five years, it has shipped over 100 million metres of denim and suiting fabric to 35 countries. This clearly captures the response from the international markets despite the pandemic and the uncertain situation. 

“Exports play a very important role in SIL’s balance sheet, with over 31 per cent of revenues being generated from the international market. We are expecting good growth in exports in the current financial year. We currently export our products to over 40 countries around the world,” says Anurag Soni, director and CFO at SIL.

“As a brand, we believe in not only marking our presence in the industry but also creating a huge impact on society. Various initiatives are undertaken by our charitable trust such as holding blood donation camps and distributing medicine to the poor from time to time, giving scholarships to meritorious students from underprivileged sections of society, planting one lakh trees each year to create a clean and healthy environment, infrastructural development of parks in Bhilwara, and financial aid to widows on a monthly basis to reduce their hardship. We have opened a training centre, as permitted by the Government of India and Government of Rajasthan under the Apprenticeship Act, which is the first and only in the private sector of the state, where approximately 500 workers are being trained in various textile trades and are being provided with employment,” says Modani.

Talking about the PLI scheme announced by the Government of India in the textile industry amounting to Rs10,863 crore: “It will definitely help the man-made fibre-based fabric, technical textiles and of course the apparel verticals of the textile sector. India has had a high-value addition in the spinning segment but less capacities in garments and technical textile, which need to be increased,” adds Soni.

PLI boost

Nevertheless, this production-linked incentive will definitely give a boost to the Indian economy as well as the industry, as investments are expected to reach Rs19,000 crore. “This scheme is all set to be laid out, and in my opinion, Bhilwara being the centre of textiles and man-made suiting, will benefit the man-made segment of the industry,” believes Modani. He is of the opinion that all players should seek its benefits to achieve greater exports and of course, enhance the domestic market.

“Covid has taught us to be more flexible and adaptable in our day-to-day work. We have diversified our markets to ensure there is not a huge dependency on any one market, be it export or domestic. Also, we have scrutinised all overhead costs and tried to minimise the same to maintain a lean and effective system to compete in the most challenging of circumstances,” adds Modani.

Looking at the current digital boom, SIL is also optimistically looking forward to adapting to different means of technology like computerised machines with respect to knitting, pleating, digital and laser printing. 

“Not only business expansions but upskilling our existing employees will also play an important role in maintaining our economic balance which will eventually reflect in high returns with low investments,” sums up Modani.

Lastly, India is the largest producer of cotton and the second largest manufacturer of polyester yarn in the world. The country’s textile and apparel market was estimated to be worth Rs8,153 billion during fiscal 2021 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11-13 per cent from fiscal 2022 till fiscal 2026 and reach a value of Rs15,300-Rs15,400 billion. During this period, exports are expected to grow at a CAGR of 9-11 per cent and the domestic industry will grow at the slightly higher pace of 13-15 per cent. This will benefit companies like SIL.