In a posh modern building in Bhopal, India, a man is about to enter inside his office. At the entrance the man takes off his shoes and bends down to touch the ground as is the tradition while entering the temples. This sign is enough to know that traditional Indian culture and values are followed here in this company. The gentleman is Sudhir Kumar Agrawal, chairman of Sagar Group. He says, “I always had firm belief in our strong value system at Sagar Group. Our biggest strength and treasure are our people.”

Agrawal, a first-generation entrepreneur, with dynamic leadership, commitment and integrity as core values, has taken the Sagar group to greater heights.

Starting from a humble beginning by having a one room office, today Sagar Group is the fastest growing conglomerate in Madhya Pradesh, India. For more than 35 years, Sagar Group continues as a dynamic and vibrant entity. They started with their first real estate project in 1983. Later in 2001, they ventured into the education field by starting the Sagar Public School. At present they are successfully operating three leading schools, three engineering institutes, one B-school and one Pharmacy institute. They also have a rice milling unit near Bhopal.

In 2012, Sagar Group ventured into the textile business by setting up a spinning mill Sagar Manufactures Pvt Ltd (SMPL). In this project, Sudhir Agrawal, a visionary person, was ably assisted by his son Siddharth Agrawal who is the managing director, a Civil Engineering graduate from (NIT) Bhopal. He says, “We are working in diversified sectors like infrastructure, education, food and textiles, all these contribute towards the basic needs of any civilisation. So, when we started the spinning mill, we required the best technology available and Truetzschler fit the bill perfectly.”

The man at the helm of affairs at the mill is Vinod Kumar Jain, executive director, SMPL. Jain is associated with the spinning mill project right from its inception in early 2012. Jain is a well-known technocrat in India and leaves no scope for any ambiguity when it comes to quality. He says, “At Sagar we strive for optimum utilisation of technology and resources, targeting quality production with an aim to exceed customer expectations.” He adds, “Our workers are well versed with the Truetzschler technology and therefore all our four units comprising of 150,000 spindles have Truetzschler blow-room and cards.” In fact, he happily says, “We have completed a century of Truetzschler cards and at present we have 115 Truetzschler cards running in our four units.”

SMPL believes in opting world class technology with less expensive automation which should last long, in order to remain competitive in the market on all fronts. Training and development is the key skill used for the optimum use of technology and controls. The company hires both male and female staff who work in shifts. They are provided with good dormitories. There is also the beautiful campus for employees accommodating more than 1,200 people with all facilities which industry needs.

At present. SMPL makes about 85 tons of super quality yarn per day. 65 per cent of this is for export market, and the rest caters to the domestic demand. Count varies between Ne 20s and 40s which include 100 per cent cotton combed fancy slub yarns, BCI cotton yarns, combed compact yarn for weaving and knitting, including grey knitted fabrics normal cotton and lycra blend.

Regarding the recent COVID-19 crisis, Siddharth Agrawal said, “The recent business environment has affected international as well as domestic demand. Weak consumer sentiments and the fear of the virus led to a little bad financial year for us also. But now, after a sluggish start, the textile industry in India is showing an upward trend, and we at SMPL, along with our strengths, have already consolidated our manufacturing operations.”

SMPL leads all its products in a niche market where customers demand very high quality. The company is striving further to raise the benchmark since inception.

When asked about future expansion plans, Jain said that they are expanding by 42,000 spindles this year and the order for further 22 latest wider width Truetzschler TC 15 cards is already placed.