Garden Silk starts 600-tonne POY and chips plant

The Surat-based Garden Silk Mills Ltd has started commercial production of partially oriented yarn (POY) and chips from its new continuous polymerisation plant.

The plant, located at Jolwa village on the outskirts of Surat, has the highest individual capacity in the country. The company's turnover is expected to more than double with the commissioning of the plant.

"The commercial production from the continuous polymerisation plant has started since Monday. The plant has a capacity of 600 tonnes per day (TPD) polyester filament grade chips, better known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and 145 TPD partially oriented yarn," a company source told Business Standard.

"The annual turnover of Garden Silk Mills, at present, is in the region of Rs. 600 crore. However, with the enhancement of the capacity, we expect it to increase to Rs. 1,300-1,400 crore in the next year or so," the source said, adding, "we are also increasing our yarn texturising capacity, which would help the company consolidate its position and further expand the yarn business."

"Out of the total production of 600 TPD polyester filament grade chips, around 270 TPD would be consumed in-house by Garden Silk Mills," he said.

The remaining 330 TPD would be sold in the open market as modified chips, bright chips and regular chips. The plant will help make up the shortage of chips that is occasionally seen in the domestic market," he said.

With the commissioning of the Jolwa plant, Garden's partially oriented yarn manufacturing capacity has increased from 65,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) to 1.15 lakh TPA. The capacity was just 7,200 TPA, when it started yarn manufacturing in 1994. The company is now the third largest yarn manufacturer in the country after Reliance and Indorama.

The plant has been developed in association with the USA-based Chemtex and Germany-based Barmag, at an investment of Rs 300 crore. Chemtex has provided the technological support for the manufacturing of the chips, while Barmag has supplied the equipment for manufacturing of POY. The work on the plant started in January 2004, and was completed in July, i.e. in 19 months.

The company, with its manufacturing plants situated at Jolwa and Vareli "" both in Surat, is also the largest seller of branded polyester sarees and dress material in the country under the brands 'Garden' & 'Vareli'.

Today, it also has the largest installation of water-jet looms in India.