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Interview with Mr. Rajendra Kumar Dalmia

Mr. Rajendra Kumar Dalmia
Mr. Rajendra Kumar Dalmia
President
Century Textiles and Industries Ltd.
Century Textiles and Industries Ltd.

Incorporated in the year 1897, Century Textiles And Industries Limited is engaged in diversified fields of manufacturing high quality Cotton Textiles, Yarn and Denim, Viscose Filament Rayon Yarn, Tyrecord, Caustic Soda, Sulphuric Acid, Salt, Cement, Pulp and Paper. Mr. Rajendra Kumar Dalmia is the President, Century Textiles - a division of Century Textiles & Industries Ltd., Mumbai, India. Born in 1954 at Delhi, Mr. Dalmia graduated from the Kanpur University in 1972 and became Chartered Accountant in 1977. He started his career with the Birla Organisation at The Technological Institute of Textiles and Sciences, Bhiwani (Haryana) in 1978 as Vice-President and rose to the position of President in 1983. While in Bhiwani, he has been actively associated to improve the over-all performances of the textile mill and took keen interest in social activities and upliftment of the workers. In 1985, he was transferred to Century Textiles, Bombay, which is today the largest single composite mill in the country, running on cent percent cotton and exporting over 60 percent of its fabrics production. For its overall performance, Century Textiles has been adjudged the International Textile Mill of the Year - 1990 by the Textile Horizons published by The Textile Institute, Manchester, UK. He took the responsibility and successfully set up two state-of-the-art 100 percent E.O.U. Units of Century Textiles viz. Century Yarn and Century Denim at Satrati, near Indore. Mr. Dalmia has been awarded with the certificate 'Fellow of The Textile Institute' (CText FTI) by The Textile Institute, Manchester, UK in 1998. In Face2Face, Mr. Dalmia shares his perceptions and views on Textile Industry - today and tomorrow.

Weaving for the past several decades, what fabric would you unroll for Century Textiles, today?

"Century Textiles & Industries Limited, Mumbai was incorporated in the year 1897. This 109 year old company had only one industrial unit- Cotton Textile Mills, till 1951. Since then the Company has been making rapid progress in widely diversified fields. At present, the company is not only the trend setter in Cotton Textiles but has also made a remarkable presence in Yarn, Denim, Viscose Filament Rayon Yarn, Tyrecords, Caustic Soda, Sulfuric Acid, Salt, Cement and Pulp & Paper. Century Textiles produces 100% cotton fabrics and its cloth covers the length and breadth of the Globe. In the highly competitive international markets, Century's cloth has carved a niche for itself. In fact, Century Fabric has charmed its way into: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, China, Comoros, Egypt, France, Germany, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Nepal, Netherland, Panama, Portugal, Russia, S.Africa, S.Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, U.A.E., U.K., Uganda and USA."
 

What denim specialties do you weave to compete in global markets?

The Denim Plant was commissioned in 1997 and till March 2006 we were mainly manufacturing in Open End x Open End Denims. The production of the expansion plan has started from 1st April 2006 and the Denim Production capacity today is 21 million meters per annum. In order to compete the market we are now manufacturing Ring Denim, Lycra Denim, Poly Denim, Over-dyed Denim, Fancy Denim, Black Denim, Slub Denim, Cross Hatch Denim and Rain Denim etc. to cater market in fashion and life style. Our capability to produce smaller lot size will also give us an edge in a highly competitive Denim Market.

spinning companies turned out a good performance in recent times. What is the reason for this?

"Most of the Spinning Units have been commissioned during last 15 years and they have the modern technology to spin the Yarn. The reason for good performance for Spinning Units is that good quality cotton is available in India by which spinners are producing good quality yarns from 24s count to 140s count."

Experts are of the opinion that future growth of textile industry will be garment driven. Do you agree on this and why?

Yes, we agree that the future growth of textile industry will be garment driven. This is a fact that today garmenting operations in developed countries in Europe as well as America is slowing down due to high cost and they are diverting their requirements to India, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka etc. The concept of the importers is that they want to have full chain of operations from fabrics to garmenting from one country. Hence, the future is for garments.

What are your company’s plans for the next financial year?

As already explained, it is not viable to run a bigger size unit in metro like Mumbai. Therefore, the company has decided to start a new State-of-Art Textile Plant in Bharuch (Gujrat State) and the commercial production will begin in the first quarter of the calendar year 2008, which will be an integrated plant. The product range will be only of value added products such as shirtings, suitings, fancy and linen fabrics and wide range of bed linen etc.

How will current bullish trend in the textile industry help boost bottom-line for your company?

Looking to the current bullish trend in the textile industry, our company has made expansion of fancy denim line as already explained above and we will focus on ready-to-wear segments under the brand name ‘Cottons-by-Century’. Along with this sector, company’s focus is now on drumming up more retail sales also. These segments will definitely help the company add to the bottom-line.

What is your opinion on the future of retailing in India and what are Century’s plans to gain retail leadership?

The future is for retailing in India. You can see yourselves very well that lots of big malls and multi-brand outlets are opening up every day under one roof. All the products are being sold; not only textiles but other commodities too. At our new plant, we plan to produce products which are being more focused and saleable at retail market that will definitely enhance our leadership skills.

What is your message to the Indian Textile Industry?

"Our message to Indian Textile Industry in order to be competitive is: Seek proper location Adopt modern technology and up-grade to remain in the current scenario Ensure availability of skilled laborers at reasonable wages Provide for sufficient power and water Create value added product profile"
Published on: 04/12/2006

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.