The esteemed journey of the LNJ Bhilwara Group started in 1960, when the Groups founder, LN Jhunjhunwala established a textile mill in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, characterising the very beginning of the Groups unfaltering success and prosperity. Since then, LNJ Bhilwara Group has been a versatile, multi-product & services conglomerate with ventures in areas as diverse as textiles, graphite electrodes and power.
Riju Jhunjhunwala, Managing Director, LNJ Bhilwara Group, in a tête-à-tête with The Indian Textile Journal, speaks on the latest cotton crisis in India and how the industry should go about tackling this issue.
Excerpts:
Karthik Muthuveeran (KM): Will this cotton crisis affect your company (if you have already hiked the capacity anticipating more demand for yarn from China)?
Riju Jhunjhunwala (RJ): The cotton crisis due to changes in Chinas cotton policy will not have any major impact on our company. Exports of cotton as well as cotton yarn are slightly at lower pace but still exports are being made. This cotton season about 100 lakh bales are already exported and it is expected further 10 lakh bales will be exported. Similarly cotton yarn exports are also growing from India year after year. For the year 2013-14, export contracts were registered with Textile Commissioner for 1,414 million kgs as against 1,067 million kgs registered in 2012-13, showing an increase of 33 per cent. If there is a slow down this quantity may come down slightly. Indias share in cotton yarn is about 45 per cent in total world trade. Thus India is going to remain a leading player as far as cotton yarn is concerned. RSWM has not hiked any major capacity on cotton yarn recently.
KM: What according to you should the industry do avert any major crisis on the yarn export from India?
RJ: The best thing is to increase consumption of yarn and clothings in India and for that industry should put up more looms, knitting machines and garmenting capacity so that our dependence on yarn exports is reduced. The Government of India is also encouraging industry to add capacity in looms, knitting machines and garmenting through TUFS scheme.
KM: How do you look at the yarn future in the next few years for India?
RJ: Indian spinning industry has built up good capacity over the years and has invested heavily in creating an ultra-modern spinning industry in India. With good availability of raw material like cotton and man-made fibre, future of yarn appears to be good in next few years for India.
KM: What are your companys plans & strategies for the future?
RJ: We put in place our plan called "LAKSHYA 2016" in 2010-11. Under this plan, we have already added 51,840 spindles unit at Kharigram and 18,000 spindles in our denim plant at Banswara, Rajasthan. Currently we are in the process of (a) adding 50 looms in fabric unit at Banswara, (b) setting up a 25,920 spindles unit for manufacturing premium Melange Yarn at Bhilwara, Rajasthan, and (c) setting up a green fibre project of 50 TPD capacity at Reengas, Rajasthan. All these programmes will be completed and operationalised by the end of the current fiscal year. Moreover, there are plans underway for the increasing spinning capacity in 2015-16.