Abhishek Industries to set up spinning plant in MP

The upcoming Madhya Pradesh unit of terry towel major Abhishek Industries Ltd (AIL) will support the company double its spinning capacity.

The Trident group-promoted company is planning to set up its new spinning-cum-textile facility at Budni with an investment of Rs 950 crore. The project is scheduled to be commissioned by March 2009.

"The Madhya Pradesh unit will support 108,000 spindles and 400 looms. Currently, we have a facility of 125,952 spindles at Barnala in Punjab which is the largest spindlage in the country on a single campus," Rajiv Gupta, a senior executive of the company, said here.

The new facility will help the company nearly double its yarn capacity to 233,952 spindles. The total production of yarn after expansion will be 180 tonnes per day placing the company amongst the top three yarn manufacturers in the country.

However, the company will hardly use the Madhya Pradesh cotton variety as raw material for the unit since it is contaminated. "Though Madhya Pradesh grows one of the finest varieties of cotton, contamination is a big hurdle due to lack of cotton handling facility," he told Business Standard.

There were reports that the company has acquired 700 acre of farmland and denied jobs to those who have become landless. "We will offer jobs to at least two members of every farmer's family who have given their land," Gupta added.

AIL is amongst the top five terry towels producers in the world and is a leading supplier to global retail majors including Wal-Mart, JC Penny and Harrods. It exports to over 40 countries across five continents with over 75 per cent of exports to the cost-competitive markets in Europe and the US.

The new yarn facility will produce value-added yarns and will cater to the emerging demand for finer counts of cotton. The product portfolio of Trident yarn consists of combed, carded, open-end yarns in 100 per cent cotton, and cotton blends.