NSL to enter branded apparel segment by Diwali

Hyderabad (IANS) - NSL Textiles, which has built up a business with the concept of "Cotton to Clothing", will enter the branded apparel segment by Diwali, launching the "Constello" brand, to cater to the domestic market, the company announced here Tuesday.

To start with, the company will open 11 stores in Andhra Pradesh and plans to have 750 stores across the country in five years. The stores will sell affordable garments of NSL textiles, targeting youth and young professionals as well as other brands.

"We have an efficient supply chain and we will target the branded apparel segment," Ajit Mantagani, CEO, told reporters.

Mantagani claimed there were huge business opportunities for NSL considering the fact that out of 50 crore shirts sold in India every year only five to eight percent are above Rs.1,000 shirts.

The firm, part of the NSL Group, plans to cover all towns of 50,000 population in three to four years.

"With the present capacities in ginning, spinning and weaving, we are already a major player in the textile industry. Process house and garment manufacturing are the next logical steps to complete the value chain," said Myneni Giridhar, Vice Chairman, NSL Textiles.

The company's state-of-the-art textile process house at Chandolu near Guntur will be inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah on Sep 6.

The Rs.300-crore facility, one of the biggest in South Asia, will have a capacity of 120,000 metres per day initially and it would be doubled in two years. Giridhar said another Rs.250 crore would be invested in the project.

With its strength of "cotton to clothing" and an investment of Rs.1,100 crore in ginning, spinning, weaving, processing and garmenting, NSL aims to become a major Asian player in the industry.

Mantagni said the company was also working for tie-up with garment companies in Bangladesh and Egypt to supply fabric from Chandolu unit.