One development that has been happening over the last 5-6 years, but has now gained momentum and also become visible is the coming up of garment manufacturing units in the Maharashtra-Gujarat belt. It is not as if this region is unknown to garment manufacturing, but traditionally the belt is a textile hub producing some of the best mills and powerloom fabrics for the garmenting sector, not only in India but also for exports. Team Apparel Resources looks deeper into the movement and the factors propelling the trend.
Traditional garment manufacturing hubs like Tirupur, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Jaipur and Kolkata have reached a certain threshold. Now expansions are happening in newer regions pan-India, be it Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana or Uttar Pradesh, where State Governments are supporting investors with various schemes. Amongst all these shifts, one development that has been happening over the last 5-6 years, but has now gained momentum and also become visible is the coming up of garment manufacturing units in the Maharashtra-Gujarat belt. It is not as if this region is unknown to garment manufacturing, but traditionally the belt is a textile hub producing some of the best mills and powerloom fabrics for the garmenting sector, not only in India but also for exports. Team Apparel Resources looks deeper into the movement and the factors propelling the trend.
Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai, was a robust base for garment manufacturing about two decades ago, before strikes and raising infrastructure cost pushed players out of the city to other developing hubs like Tirupur and Bengaluru. What was left were the textile mills in cities like Ichalkaranji, Bhiwandi and Malegaon, where fabric is produced mostly using cotton grown in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of the state. These textile hubs have since then grown stronger and estimates claim there are approximately 10 lakh textile units across the state, with over 50 lakh people dependent on them. Major players in the textile chain from the region are – Mandhana Industries, Alok Industries, Bombay Dyeing, Indo Count, Indian Rayon, Morarjee Textiles, Suryalakshmi, Siyaram’s, Birla Cotsyn, BRFL, GTN Industries to name a few.
In the case of Gujarat, the focus was on textiles from the start and only in recent times has garmenting become a growth segment. The state is producing nearly 30 per cent cotton and 56 per cent denim of the country’s total production with players like Arvind Ltd., Nandan Denim, Aarvee Denim, Venus and Jindal Worldwide. Besides, the state is having a lion’s share of 38 per cent in the manufacturing of man-made filament fabric and 30 per cent in woven fabric. A very enterprising state, Gujarat accounts for over one-fourth of the country’s technical textiles output. In the last decade, there has been a realisation that the state lags behind in garment production because of unavailability of skilled manpower, which has limited the ability of the textile industry in Gujarat to capitalise on abundant raw material availability and also its ability to earn higher per unit realisation on value-added products.
Textile companies forward integrating and existing units upgrading
While many of the big textile companies in both states have already forward integrated into garmenting or home furnishing, the mid-level and smaller mills are now taking the plunge. “Most of the companies that are currently expanding in apparel have roots in the textile industry. Their next generation is more aggressive, educated and ready to make the investments needed for future ready manufacturing set-ups,” says Nimish Dave, Founder and CEO at The Idea Smith, who has many projects in the region. He adds, “Many times, a promoter is seeking to expand his manufacturing capacities and working towards this and a large part of the bullishness is coming due to the surge in sales in the domestic consumption, while online and B2C models are also adding to the surge in demand.”
In the last five years, many new apparel factories are coming up in the Maharashtra-Gujarat Belt – Bhiwandi, Interior Maharashtra, Umergaon, Surat and Ahmedabad, while many outdated factories are being upgraded in Mumbai and its outskirts. “We are into manufacturing of intimate apparel and specialise in manufacturing of women’s innerwear since the last 45 years. In order to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and compete with international manufacturers, we needed both (land and manpower) in abundance and at a reasonable cost and our current manufacturing location helps us achieve that,” says Sarthak Kubadia, Managing Director, Abhinandan Creation, Mumbai. The new factory is ergonomically designed to increase flow and reduce wastage and this results in higher efficiency and productivity. “We follow lean manufacturing process that helps us achieve world-class quality and efficiency with minimum WIP. We have adopted cutting edge technology which in turn helps us serve private labels and retailers with most competitive and flexible manufacturing solution for intimatewear in India,” avers Sarthak. The SEDEX certified unit with a production capacity of 2,00,000 pieces per month, is currently manufacturing for Reliance Trends, Lifestyle, Salient and KIT (USA).
The importance of moving up the value chain has become an urgent desire now. About two years ago, the textile city of Solapur in southeast Maharashtra announced its intention to become the country’s uniform sourcing hub. “We plan to have about 2,000 garment units in the textile city to become the world’s uniform sourcing hub by 2022,” claims Darshan Kochar, President, Solapur Garment Manufacturers Association. Today there are over 100 garment manufacturers in the city and though many projects got delayed because of the pandemic and slow market due to closure of schools and corporate events, an interesting twist has been the diversion to fashion during this time. It is interesting to note that the inspiration for the same came from a picture on social media of Priyanka Chopra’s pop-star husband Nick Jonas in a printed shirt earlier this year that throws light on the unique Solapur Chhadar!
Significantly, the Gujarat Garment Manufacturing Association (GGMA,) established in 1990 with only 150 members is now having over 1,500 members as of date, and this is just a record of the more structured manufacturing units. “Though there was a slowdown in 2020, the industry is showing signs of demand revival and we’re witnessing 70-80 per cent capacity utilisation,” shares Vijay Purohit, President GGMA. Surprisingly, the perception that Gujarat does not have sufficient workforce is actually wrong and most of the upcoming projects are successfully training and recruiting local people, mostly women, who are sincere, hardworking and excited to be trained. The added benefit is that the State Government offers a subsidy of Rs. 4,000 per woman worker, per month, which is Rs. 3,200 in case of a man worker.
There exists a significant proportion of women workforce wishing to be engaged in the apparel manufacturing sector. More and more companies that are now coming up in various regions of Maharashtra and Gujarat are employing women by imparting training and then absorbing them on the shopfloor. Even small companies have set up training cells within the facility where untrained women from rural and semi-rural areas are imparted training for a period of 45 days. The Skill India/PMKVY yojanas have really acted as an enabler and companies are availing the support and subsidies given by the Government.
“We have created a very successful training cell within our company and are happy to state that all our 100 per cent women workforce are trained by us and are now producing excellent quality kidswear in woven, knits as well as denims with high levels of efficiency,” says Ojas Nishar, Promoter of a very well-known kidswear brand called Vitamins. Sarthak, the young promoter of Abhinandan creations, echoes a similar view. His entire workforce is women-oriented and all of them have undergone in-house training.
Sanjay Gohel, the dynamic MD of Zedex Clothing in Ahmedabad also has a very good training centre set-up within his huge premise. This factory employs 100 per cent women workforce. “Our women employees come from near-by villages; they come with no baggage, showcase a high degree of motivation and a hunger to learn and earn. We have been very successful in training and absorbing them on the shopfloor and we believe that is the road ahead for most manufacturers,” says Sanjay.
In fact, Zedex Clothing is amongst the fastest growing apparel companies in Gujarat, which has expanded significantly off late. “The credit for smooth execution of our expansion also goes to industry-friendly state policies,” says Dhwanit Gohel, Director of Zedex Clothing. He adds, “Essentially, new-age entrepreneurship with Government support in form of various subsidies are collectively working as catalysts for the state’s apparel manufacturing business and one can create the most cost-effective manufacturing infrastructure here.” The company has recently gone in for an expansion with focus on automation. “We saw technology as an opportunity to bring down our lead time. With the help of current automation like auto spreaders, auto cutters, pocket setters, etc., we have been able to achieve smaller cycles and turnaround within three days from cutting to stitching outward. Also, with many national and international brands expanding their retail footprints in India, they will always need good compliant manufacturers who match their quality requirements,” reasons Dhwanit. The next project is to establish a ZLD (zero liquid discharge)/eco-friendly laundry set-up for decrease in water usage and pollution control.
The states of Maharashtra and Gujarat have much to offer for the apparel manufacturing industry, right from raw materials, port facilities, trainable workforce, existing infrastructure for textile value chain, to ancillary units and a good work culture. On top of that are investor friendly textile and apparel policies that envisage not only subsidies but also good sustainable growth initiatives. Adding to this is the support technology companies are extending to these states in the form of various offerings as factories too are keen to know what’s the latest technology and automation available in the market!
The zeal with which apparel manufacturers are preparing for the future is evident from the fact that a few Green factories are coming up in the region. The era of sustainable and Green factories has truly begun and India has been a laggard as far as setting up of certified ‘Green Factories’ are concerned. Our neighbours like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have taken a huge lead in this aspect. However, Indian entrepreneurs are now getting into the act. One such manufacturer is Umbergaon (Gujarat) based Newbury Fashions which has been manufacturing apparels since the past three decades. The company is now setting up a ‘Green Factory’ and wishes to be Leeds certified GOLD standard. “Most of our buyers overseas are now wishing to source garments made by ecologically sustainable processes. This trend is set to grow exponentially in times to come and hence we decided to set up ‘Green factory’ – we believe it is a step in the right direction and we truly hope to inspire a large section of apparel companies to follow this route,” says Viral Desai, the Promoter of Newbury fashions.
One of the growing companies is Bhagia Textile from Kubernagar cluster, Ahmedabad. The company as well as the entire Kubernagar region are collectively manufacturing approximately 600,000 leggings per day – 90 per cent of which goes to domestic buyers while remaining 10 per cent gets shipped to overseas buyers. The cluster is still underrated but the determination of the manufacturers based in this region is commendable. Gulshan Bhagia, Owner of Bhagia Textile comments, “Over the years, we have developed expertise in making leggings and we use high-quality fabric which is being used by top global brands.”
“Definitely the developments and expansions are happening. Talks are ongoing because domestic retail industry in apparels has picked up and the pace is being witnessed from February ’22 onwards. Factories are clearing their inventories and I am hopeful that March and April will be fruitful too. If that happens, the domestic apparel factories will certainly go for expansion in Maharashtra,” comments Rahul Mehta, Chief Mentor, CMAI, adding, “The export factories have already gone for some expansion of late as they deal in good orders that fill factories’ capacities for substantial amount of time. All these expansions/investments are happening in Maharashtra only nearer to the existing facilities. Smaller factories in Mumbai, Dadar, Jogeshwari, etc., may go for establishing bigger factories in Bhiwandi, Kalyan or Tarapur.”
Western India is home to many local brands…
The Western region has been home to hundreds of small brands across all product categories. With the opening up of e-commerce channels, not only are the existing brands expanding their manufacturing capacities, but new brands are also getting into action. Copperstone, which is a two-decade old brand manufacturing shirts in Mumbai and selling all across India,is now setting up a manufacturing facility in Vapi Gujarat. “I see a significant rise in demand for our brand in the coming years. Our existing manufacturing space is small and we have decided to establish a bigger, better, technology driven, compliant manufacturing unit to be able to service the growing Indian appetite,” says Rajiv Kochhar, Promotor of Copperstone.
Blue Buddha is the retail arm of Zedex Clothing that was established in 2008 with 12 stores. It has gradually grown to 125+ stores chain across 7 states and targeted 150 stores in this fiscal. “Our motto has been to provide fashion at smart pricing. Blue Buddha is available online only through the brand website. We aim to make Blue Buddha a complete lifestyle brand for men providing not only apparels but also a great range of accessories. Recently we introduced socks, belts, wallets, boxers and fragrances which has a great response from customers because of the value price offerings,” says Sanjay.
Source : https://in.apparelresources.com/