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"The capacity is being added continually across the country. Hence, it is now imperative to differentiate oneself. We have been doing this by focusing on innovation, design and sustainability," said Aamir Akhtar, chief executive officer-denim, Arvind. "For instance, we are working closely with fibre, machinery and dyestuff makers on exclusive basis to add value to our products, which could sell at a premium."
LNJ Denim of Bhilwara Group is investing in research and development for value addition like stretch denim, coating, fluorescent neps and knitted and printed denim.
"India is producing more than the domestic market can use or export. In such a clutter, value addition can only help denim makers stay ahead in the race.," said Y C Gupta, chief executive officer of LNJ.
"At LNJ, adding polyurethane while coating denim fabric helps add colour and increase the product's life. Similarly, knitted design is also increasingly finding significance among users," he added. LNJ supplies to brands such as Levi's, GAP, Spykar, Killer, Polo and Tommy Hilfiger.
According to industry experts, while basic denim without any value addition sells at around Rs 100-150 per metre, premium products with certain value addition at various stages of production sell at close to Rs 200-250 per metre.
One of the major value-added products is stretch denim, where manufacturers add spandex to the cotton fibre to make the product more stretchable. While there are various brands of spandex fibre available, top denim makers seek the premium spandex brand LYCRA of US-based Invista.
"Such value addition should have happened three-four years ago. For instance, Pakistan is six-seven years ahead of India in stretch denim, which has gained significance in the Indian markets only recently," said Rajesh Dudeja, founder of Denim Club of India, a network of denim industry professionals.
However, Dudeja stated the share of value-added denim products would be 10-15 per cent. "Indian denim makers will have to invest in premium washing, finishing and other stages of fabric making. The product differentiation should have happened three-four years ago but so far the country was selling whatever it was producing. Today, however, the supply is increasing while demand is almost same," he said.
From last year's 800 million metres, the denim industry is already over 900 million metres in capacity and is soon expected to touch the one billion metres mark.
