eYantra plans to set up 30 stores by May 2005

Hyderabad-based eYantra (formerly www.pratima.com), a corporate gifts company, is planning to set up 30 exclusive retail gifting stores across the country by May 2005, with an investment of Rs 1 crore.

"Initially, we are focusing on the Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune markets. The stores will offer corporate gifts, high-end T-shirts under the brand name 'Structur' and corporate clothes," eYantra director (operations) Phani N Raj told Business Standard.

eYantra has set up exclusive in-house outlets at the Indian School of Business (ISB) and TCS. The company plans to close the current fiscal with a turnover of Rs 12-13 crore.

The Rs 7-crore company is also planning to set up a fully integrated, state-of-the-art garments manufacturing facility at the Apparel Park in Gundlapochampalli on the city outskirts with an investment of Rs 80 lakh.

"At present, 60 per cent of our production is being outsourced and so we have decided to set up another facility. The Hyderabad facility will have a production capacity of 2,800 pieces a day and will be operational by the end of next calendar year," he said.

The three-year-old company already has a Rs 40-lakh 2,200 pieces a day capacity manufacturing facility at Tirupur in Tamil Nadu.

Phani Raj said that the corporate gifting market has picked up after two bad years. "Orders have multiplied and business is booming as top-of-the-line corporates are spending big money this Diwali. This is good news for manufacturers and suppliers like us," he said.

According to him, the Rs 2,000-crore Indian corporate gifting market is looking up and is expected to grow by 25 per cent year-on-year.

"Of the Rs 2,000-crore Indian corporate gifting industry, the Andhra Pradesh market contributes around Rs 50-55 crore while Chennai accounts for between Rs 200 crore and Rs 250 crore and Bangalore between Rs 150 crore and Rs 200 crore," he said.

The global corporate gifts market is estimated to be at $100 billion and is expected to grow by 30 to 40 per cent this year, he added.

Corporates are spending anywhere between Rs 12 crore and Rs 15 crore on Diwali gifts in Andhra Pradesh this year. Of the Rs 12-15 crore being spent on corporate gifts, the FMGC companies contribute nearly Rs 6 crore. The other big spenders are IT and pharmaceutical industry.

eYantra has bagged Diwali orders worth more than Rs 1 crore. The company, which has more than 1,000 clients on its list, offers over 5,000 products.

For this Diwali, it received orders for 5,000 strollers from Keeline, a city-based manufacturer of stabilisers, 250 wrist watches and 3,000 jute bags from Gland Pharma, 250 wind sheeters from Spice Communications, 3,000 table-tops from Bangalore-based Novanordisk, 1,250 jackets from GE Capital, 3,600 sweat shirts from Bajaj Alliances, 500 mementos from Infosys, hand massagers, dry fruits boxes from Genesis IT Communications, among others.

Phani Raj said that there has been a culture shift in corporate gifts this year.

"Corporates are now looking for something different, both for their internal as well as external gifting. At present, garments like T-shirts, jackets etc are one of the popular give-aways this Diwali. Top corporates have placed orders for specialities in this range. A case in point is the fact that of the Rs 1 crore-plus orders that we received for this Diwali, Rs 63 lakh were for garments," he said.