Visagar Polytex forges ahead with value addition, to expand

As you enter the compact office of Visagar Polytex Ltd, located near Andheri West (Mumbai) on the SV Road, one notices more than its name what is written under its logo — You Dream, We Create. This sums up what Visagar Poltex has been doing since its inception: Adding value to its products, which include primarily ethnic wear. Tilokchand Kothari, its Managing Director, wastes no words while explaining the objective of his company: ´Our company is mainly in textiles. Ethnic wear including sarees and ´lahengas´ are our key products. We sell all over India and retail network is well-established.´

Talking to the Editor of The Indian Textile Journal, Kothari said: ´Visagar Polytex was launched in 2006. We are manufacturing in Surat and Kolkata. Our main work is in value addition. We buy good quality sarees and other dresses in grey materials and do the value addition with sophisticated machinery and also manually by workers. We have well-established retail business in Rajasthan and Gujarat apart from West Bengal.´

Visagar Polytex may not be in big manufacturing but is so specialised in value addition that his company´s job is very much in tune with the present Government´s mantra -´Make in India´. And Kothari has no less ambition that any other textile giant. ´We are planning to double our capacity, and for this we have already ordered latest machinery. We are investing about Rs 50 million. Our retail business is also in for expansion with more outlets spreading out to other cities. So far we have been concentrating only in North, but now we will even go to Tier-II and Tier-III cities,´ said Kothari. With this expansion, the company´s capacity of half a billion stitches per day will double to 1 billion stitches per day. This is expected to be completed in a matter of two months.

Embroidery and handwork are the two mainstays for the value addition. Said Kothari: ´We have state-of-the-art embroidery machines in Surat. In Kolkata we have about 400 artisans who do manually work to add values to our products. The value addition our works impart is so special that our products are desired and respected by a majority of buyers in many parts of north India.´

Vividha is the most famous brand of Visagar Polytex. ´In Rajasthan and Gujarat our Vividha brand has grown tremendously in reputation and is recognised in every showroom. This brand is distinguished for its exclusivity. They are used on all special occasions including marriages and other functions. We have established a good reputation in the wholesale market and the demand has been growing very fast.´

Visagar MD does not want to pursue the same route of selling. ´Now we are planning to go for franchise route to expand business. We have already 13 exclusive showrooms and out of this 4 showrooms are owned by the company itself. These showrooms are in well-known places like Jodhpur Jaipur, Bhilwara, etc. The company has two efficient design teams — one in Gujarat for machine designing and another in Kolkata for handwork.´

Kothari swears by value addition. ´Without value addition today we cannot sell any product. Our main focus is on this. Though our products are not like readymades, the value addition is very excellent. After completing this expansion, which will cover more than 20 cities, we also plan to go for exports. One product, which has excellent scope is the suits. We are now planning a big entry into the franchise model, and hope to have at least 200 franchisees soon. We will be outsourcing more products for value addition. The price range of our products is from Rs 500 to Rs 50,000,´ said Kothari.

Visagar Polyex Ltd has an online platform too, christened www.shop4saree.com. It has envisioned programme called Home Based Opportunity (HBO) for facilitating entrepreneurship and financial independence among women. ´Organised ethnic wear always beats any kind of western wear in India. The Average Sales Density of ethnic w