Nishant Giri
Sr. General Manager Jindal Worldwide Limited
We expect the Government to come out with a better export-oriented policy
One of the largest denim manufacturers in India, Jindal Worldwide deals with the widest range of fabrics, designs (400-500 designs a month), and yarn (being vertically integrated), making it possible for the company to innovate solutions and respond quickly to customer demands. At the recently concluded Gartex Texprocess India, a comprehensive tradeshow on garment & textile machinery, Fibre2Fashion spoke to Jindal’s Sr. General Manager Nishant Giri about high cotton prices, eco-friendly dyes, sustainability and government policies.
Cotton prices are currently at a record high both in domestic and international markets. How is this affecting the Indian denim industry?
There was a festive season recently due to which there was demand from the customers. There were lot of restrictions last year due to COVID-19, which are now lifted. This has also helped in pushing up the demand. Coming to cotton prices, yes, they are going up. As of now, we don’t know what is going to happen in future as we are hearing things like: there’s a short supply of cotton, the yield is less this time, and the acreage sown is also less than what was projected. So, higher prices are due to all these factors.
Next, China imported lot of cotton from India from November to February and March and now the government has come up with a policy that we can import cotton without paying the additional 10 per cent duty. But the price in US continent is on the higher side, and freight portion is also very high from the US to India, which makes importing cotton unsustainable.
This said, there is still demand in local industry. So, we are worried about how long it will sustain because the consumer also has a limit, specially at a time when prices of all commodities are going up.
However, we are hoping that there will be increase in demand due to the upcoming festivals. We are innovating the product and giving new styling so we can take it to the niche, higher value-added market. We are striving for something different, so that we have a market for us.
Indigo dyes are integral to making denims. With concerns over sustainability rising every day, do you foresee more use of eco-friendly dyes? By when can we expect all denim production to go 100 per cent eco-friendly?
Eco-friendly dyes and sustainability concept are still very much there because we don’t want our future generations to see a destroyed earth. The only issue while going for sustainability is that the cost of production goes up. It is a challenge to find out how to reduce the cost of production while making a sustainable product.
Indigo is a natural dye, but the indigo currently being used is manufactured, because cultivation of indigo is also risky. We are using sustainable chemicals that require less water, as availability of water is limited. We are using dyestuff that uses less water. That way we are contributing to the society.
What is the size of denim market in India? At what rate is it growing?
In India, denim market started growing in the year of 1997-1998 when Bollywood stars started wearing high waist jeans. Teenagers who at that time started wearing denims, are now in the age of 40 plus. They are still a denim client. The present new generation is already wearing denim. Denim is worn by men in tier 1, 2 and 3 cities, while women are wearing in tier 1 and 2. In tier 3, women are not wearing denim, but they are getting tuned to it. So, the demand is still there, and it is going to rise because the Indian population is increasing. Tier 2 and tier 3 cities are going to give more demand in the coming future, as denim is easy to wear, and people feel at ease donning it.
What is your present denim capacity? Do you have any plans to increase the same because of increasing demand?
Our current denim capacity is 140 million metres per annum, and we are increasing it to 160 million metres per annum. We are trying for backward integration, i.e., we are putting up our own spinning plant where we can have a full vertical unit capable of producing fabric from cotton. We are currently in the process of installing machines and production should start in six months’ time.
What is your domestic vs export sales proportion? How do you plan to keep the same in future?
Domestic market has always remained our USP. Our sales proportion currently is 70 per cent domestic and 30 per cent export. However, we are trying to increase the export percentage, as we want to be a global player, and want to make 50:50 ratio in the coming years.
What are your expectations from the present government in terms of policy support for making denim industry more competitive?
Government does its things based on its own internal studies. When other countries are importing cotton, the government must think why they are importing so much cotton from India. We don’t have cotton and China has got cotton, which is cheaper than in India, so they are getting edge in the international market. The government must always study data as to why other countries are importing so much cotton from India.
Secondly, we expect the Government to come out with a better export-oriented policy. The Chinese government has a very good export policy which gives lots of benefits to the exporters. The Indian government can study it.
Finally, in domestic market also we need government support to curtail sudden speculation in cotton. It is because sudden changes always make things disturbed.
Interviewer: Shilpi Panjabi
Published on: 03/06/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
