Samsonite plans second manufacturing unit

The company will pump in $50 million into its Indian operations for this unit. Ramesh Tainwala, chief operating officer, Samsonite India, told Business Standard: "The parent company has recently announced that, by the end of the year 2005, all the worldwide requirements of Samsonite's ABS products will be met from the Indian manufacturing units."

Samsonite India's plant at Nashik, with a annual capacity of around 10 million units, will not be enough to meet the global requirements of the company, Tainwala said.

At present, ABS products are manufactured at Samsonite's other plants at Belgium, Mexico and China also.

The company is expecting its exports revenues to quadruple to Rs 400 crore once this unit begins commercial production in the year 2006.

"We are waiting for a clearance from the SEZ authorities for setting up a plant in Maharashtra, as it will be viable for our existing manufacturing facilities at Nashik. However, there are still some formalities to be completed and it may take about 3 months," Tainwala said.

The company has also received offers from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for setting up a plant, he added.

Samsonite has also re-launched its medium segment luggage range - American Tourister "" which is expected to double the company's revenues of Rs 100 crore from its domestic operations.

"The medium segment has a market of around Rs 200 crore and we are targeting a market share of around 40 per cent in the next year."

The company currently commands a market share of almost 80 per cent in the premium luggage segment.