Kurlon plans facility in Gwalior

Bangalore-based mattress-maker Kurlon Ltd, a Manipal group company, will soon start a new facility at Gwalior.

The group has invested Rs 35 crore in the facility, which, according to a senior company executive, will start from March 2008.

Kurlon mattresses are manufactured from a combination of coir fibre (coco) and natural rubber latex, blended together with machinery of world-class technology. The company will also make pillows and foam at the same facility, which has taken shape in the Malanpur industrial area near Gwalior.

"We have invested Rs 30-35 crore in the manufacturing unit and it will start commercial production from 2008," a top company official told Business Standard adding, "it will be a mega plant that will cater the demand from all over India, with southern India supplying raw material. The state government has given us sales tax exemptions in accordance with the Industrial Promotion Policy, 2004."

The company manufactures Kurlon brand mattresses in foam, rubberised coir, spring and therapeutic in various models.

"We are expecting a turnover of around Rs 400-500 crore from the existing Rs 320 crore with this plant," said the official adding "This will be the first plant for manufacturing world-class mattresses in Madhya Pradesh."

The group is also planning of launching a private university in Gwalior and has plans to take over a hospital run by the Mukesh Agrawal Charitable Trust on no profit no loss basis.

Despite poor infrastructure, pathetic law and order situation, extortion and poor quality of power supply, the Malanpur Industrial Area has witnessed investment influx during the last three years. A range of high-end products manufacturing companies are in operation in the area and are expanding.