Interview with Dr. Girish Nagarkar

Dr. Girish Nagarkar
VP (Specialty and Performance Chemicals Division)
Indofil Industries Ltd (KK Modi Group)

Key areas of growth will be in Meditech, Geo-Textiles, Automobile Sector, and Home Textiles.

The KK Modi Group is part of the USD 2.8 billion Modi Enterprises founded by Rai Bahadur Gujarmal Modi in 1933. The Group’s interests span a diverse range of businesses which include agro-chemicals, tobacco, tea and beverages, education, entertainment, direct selling, network marketing and gourmet restaurants. Employing more than 28,000 people, the KK Modi Group has emerged as one of the top business houses in India. Indofil Industries Limited- chemicals subsidiary of KK Modi Group, is engaged in manufacturing and marketing leather, coating, paper, textile chemicals and auxiliaries, additives for PVC industry and chemicals for the Construction industry. Dr. Girish Nagarkar, Ph D (Polymers), is the VP (Specialty and Performance Chemicals Division) at Indofil. He did BSc-Tech in 1985 from UICT and started his career with Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd as Technical Officer the same year. He completed his MS from Chemson University USA in 1990 and returned to India to join Indofil Chemicals Company as Product Manager Coatings, Construction and Petrochemicals. Thereafter, he worked with Vam Organic Chemicals and subsequently with Clariant Chemicals (I) Ltd as Product Manager. When Dr. Nagarkar left Clariant after thirteen years he was General Manager, Functional Chemicals. He is also a speaker on many known forums like Indian Paint Association, Indian Small Scale Paint Association, Indian Plastic Manufacturers Association and Indian Packaging Association. In Face2Face, sharing a word on textile dyes and chemicals sector with Sr. Editor & Correspondent-Ms Madhu Soni, Dr. Girish Nagarkar, also remarks on trends in Nonwovens industry.

Dr. Nagarkar, Welcome to Face2Face! As an opener to the talk, let me request your point on the significance that textile market makes in the business share of KK Modi Group.

KK Modi Group is a part of the USD 2.8 billion Modi Enterprises employing more than 28,000 people. KK Modi Group has emerged as one of the top business houses in India. With focus on People, Planet & Profits, the group continues to lead in many industries with benchmarks for others to follow. Indofil Industries, a division of the KK Modi Group has a strong presence in the domestic market and also exports products to 60 countries worldwide. Business Units of Agrochemicals, Leather, Textiles, Coating, Construction and Plastics have a strong brand equity and key presence in various markets. Indofil Industries Ltd has been associated with the Textile Market through our Specialty Chemicals division. Textiles business accounts for about 21 percent of the Specialty Chemicals business. The Group is committed to increase its presence in the sector through organic and inorganic growth and aims at a 30% CAGR.

So, in the wake of current textile and clothing market movements, how do you find textile dyes/chemicals sector shaping up?

The Dyes/Chemicals sector is undergoing rapid changes in terms of technology and is also going through a period of consolidation. The near future will see the exit of some large names from the business to make way for new ones. However, the market until 2020 will be very exciting as Chemical sectors can expect a strong growth rate around 10 % or more on the back of exciting future times for the textile industry. But only those manufacturers who are able to shape up to the increasing demands of Eco-friendly products and new technologies adapted by the industry will have a key role to play. Techno commercially beneficial, product & process innovation and eco-friendliness will be the key demands of the growing Textile sector on the Dyes / Chemicals sector.

In tandem to demand scenario, what tradition do you see setting in developing technologies? What role has nanotechnology to play in specialty chemicals for fabrics-textiles?

The demands of the industry will always play a key role in development of future technologies like eco-friendly, low water & energy consumption, and smart textiles technologies. Nano Technology in Textiles has already set in and will grow to set the bench marks in technology in future. Right from Functional Materials like heat proof, water resistant, odour resistant to Smart Materials like Smell Release, UV protection and Intelligent Materials with microelectronics-embedded fabrics, Nano Technology will play a key role.

Can you please throw some light on Indian Non-wovens’ industry growth trend too?

The non-woven sector has witnessed a phenomenal growth since 2007. Current estimates put the growth at about 11% YOY. However there is a large scope for further growth as per capita consumption in India is a mere 80 grams whereas developed economies like USA and Europe have a per capita consumption of non-wovens over 3 kgs. Key areas of growth will be in Meditech, Geo Textiles, Automobile Sector and Home Textiles. We are looking forward to make our presence felt in these sectors as a committed supplier through innovative products from our R&D and International tie-ups.

Chemical companies are having series of acquisitions in recent years all across the globe. How this is going to shift the dynamics of the overall business?

There is increasing pressure on companies to grow faster than market growth rates in a very short period. Apart from Organic Growth, Inorganic Growth through M&A is fast catching up. However investors are not very keen on Strategic Projects. So most companies today are looking for M&A to improve their market share, enter new market segments, technology upgradation, and manage costs and volatility in markets in a better manner. Overall M&A in chemical segments will mean that existing medium or large players will strengthen their position and expand into new markets putting in lot of pressure on smaller players.

As you mentioned about Volatility; what is Indofil's take on fluctuations in raw material prices?

Chemical raw materials to textile industry are also very much dependent on petro-based products. For example, in our case, Acrylic monomers are the major raw materials. The monomers have been showing serious fluctuations in the past few years due to oil prices and supply demand factors .However as a committed supplier to the industry we have been trying our best to limit these fluctuations to our end users to a bare minimum by intelligent sourcing.

What value Indofil assigns to innovations in product offering? While ‘Sustainability’ is innovation’s mantra these days, has your R&D wing been framed in this new approach of corporate affairs?

Product differentiation has always been a key to our business and innovation will continue to serve as the backbone of our business. R&D is a prime focus area for Indofil with plans to quadruple investments over the next five years. Today Indofil’s well-equipped Synthesis Laboratory is capable of developing new molecules and manufacturing processes that can be rapidly commercialized. We continuously collaborate with premier institutions for development of new solutions for the industry. Our R&D works on the basis of Innovation Index to ensure that the products reaching our customers add value in terms of technology and value.

How has the financial performance of the company been? How do you foresee your group’s textile business in next fiscal? Any plans to venture into apparel/textile retail as KK Modi Group has presence in other retail sectors?

Overall the Speciality Business is growing at a healthy 25% CAGR and this growth pattern should continue in the years to come. Apparel and Textile retail is a possibility in future. For the moment Chemicals for Textiles will continue to be the Mantra.

Thanks for insightful comments, Dr. Nagarkar! It was a great deal of information on textile specialty chemicals.

You are welcome.

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Published on: 12/09/2011

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.