Alps Industries ventures into automotive fabric

* Announces technical & marketing alliance with Suminoe Textile Co. Ltd, Osaka, Japan

Mumbai, January 23, 2008: Alps Industries Ltd., the leading Yarns and Furnishings manufacturer, today announced their venture into Automotive Fabrics. Alps Industries has entered into a technical and marketing alliance with Suminoe Textile Co. Ltd, Osaka, a leading automotive fabric maker in Japan.

The project, to come up in Laksar, Haridwar, would be implemented within the calendar year of 2008. Alps Industries will make an investment of Rs.150cr which includes expansion of decorative fabric capacity, which is already under implementation. The plant will have state-of-the-art processing machinery. Suminoe Textiles with its strong design skills and tremendous reputation with Japanese car makers would further assist Alps Industries in the marketing of automotive fabrics.

Announcing the tie up, Mr. Sandeep Agarwal, MD, Alps Industries Limited, said: "We are delighted to enter into a technical alliance with Suminoe Textile Co Ltd. Our venture into value added lines is an obvious extension of our textile expertise. The automotive fabric industry is growing rapidly with the growth in the auto manufacturing sector and we hope to notch up revenue of Rs 100cr in three years from this segment."

About Alps Industries

Alps Industries Limited, established in 1962, is today the leading manufacturer of Yarns, Home Furnishings, Natural Dyes, and Fashion Accessories which are well appreciated all across the globe. The company also offers a whole range of Architectural products under the brand name "Vista" which has the highest brand recall in its category and Fashion Accessories under the brand name "Le-Pashmina" in the domestic market and is aided by a nation-wide distribution network. The company is committed to produce world class fashion, furnishing and décor products with the concurrent objective to protect the environment through the use of eco-friendly materials.

Alps strength lies in its infrastructure which comprises of eight production facilities that cater to different market segments. It has carried out pioneering research work in the area of natural dyes and their application to textiles, and currently holds a couple of patents also in this respect.