Garware-Wall Ropes Ltd. (GWRL) is one of India’s leading players in the technical textiles sector, providing specialised solutions to the cordage and infrastructure industry worldwide. Established in 1976, the company today is a multi-divisional, multi-geographical technical textile company. Textile Value Chain spoke to Shujaul Rehman , CEO and Sanjay Raut, President of GWRL about their manufacturing and performance in the technical textile market and future plans.
Why is the technical textile market in India not growing as expected?
Basically technical textile is very vast subject. It is difficult to talk about its growth in a whole. Yes the growth in not big, but the market is picking up and we are happy that the government is supporting our sector. There are many segmental issues and also a factor such as the demonetisation, GST etc has slowed the growth. In the next 5 to 10 years the market growth of technical textile for Indian market would be 7 to 8% and globally it would be 4 to 5%. Technical textile has a bright future.
What is the impact of GST in Technical textile? Are there any rules where small dealers can’t do business outside the state, is it true?
It depends on the segment within the industry. In fisheries there was no tax before GST and now they have to pay 12% tax, so the effect would be negative, while in agriculture sector is positive. Overall GST will have a positive impact on India.
I am not aware about such rules. Mostly all our dealers are making business above 20 lakhs. If we have such small dealers working with us, then we would deal as per law with them.
The company plans to establish inter-state facilities? When is it going to happen?
It will depend upon movement of Government. We already have a manufacturing facility at Wai, which is largest unit in India which conforms to ISO 9000 standards. We have recently signed a MoU with Israel’s Aero-T for manufacturing and supply of advanced aerostats for the Indian Defence. We would provide the aerostat envelope production facility and Areo-T would provide the technology, know-how, integration, acceptance and continuous support for the aerostats development and production.
How do you brand your products?
In our case, we only work in B2B circuit. So in fisheries we have a distribution network and team across the coast of India. We do conduct lots of workshops and also provide them training and social support and education.
Agriculture in India is very vast to dealt with rural district and educate the farmer. For every 5 village we appoint a villager for their knowledge. We first started with Ahmednagar and now we are hunting in 2 to 3 district in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan.
How do you compete with your competitor’s in India as well as in international market?
Sanjay Raut our President heading the technical and new businesses; is working on a new product, as we are keen to offer something new and unique to our customer. We do not compete with Chinese companies, but yes we do compete with the Europeans. Many European companies are trying to copy us; this itself explains our position in International market too. We have our own niche and our own market value; we are strong wherever we are. Our vision is on the application of the product; we study the requirement of the customer and come out with the product. Our USP is the advantage that delivers value to the customers.
What differentiate your product from your competitors?
From last 40 to 50 Years, we started with aquaculture using nylon net, then our R&D team understood the requirements and switched to HDP from nylon nets because nylon absorbs water due to algae. So we had to use copper antifungal but again the use of copper antifungal is restricted in some developed countries. So with our own R&D, we introduced HDP where algae don’t stick hard on to the nets but it can be easily cleaned or removed. Hence we got good success with HDP. We do not only design HDP product but also patent it.
Which countries are you target for aquaculture?
In aquaculture we have very strong market in UK, Norway, U.S.A, etc. We have also started working in Chile and trying to make a strong market for us there as well. Overall as a company we are expanding more and more.
Garware has worked many years with Indian fisheries, what’s the current status?
7 years ago we worked with Central Marine Fishery Cochin and made 4 modern farms for them. For sea farms there are rules & regulation which are still not finalised by government. Once rules are finalised, it will flourish. In England, aquaculture is done on very small scale compare to Europe but the progress is good.
Granules which are used In HDP and PPA is not environment friendly?
HDP & PPA are not as bad as bag which floats on the surface. These granules mix with solid doesn’t create harm as such bag creates. There are some other products which are more dangerous than HDP & PPA. One can recycle HDP & PPA.
We also innovates green product from sugarcane rather than petrochemical but the price is quiet high. So for the acceptance of this technology we are looking forward to the European market.
The current use of polypropylene, Nylon as a raw material is there any future in glass plant?
We have mastered the technology of HDP & PPA and we use nylon, polyester & polypropylene as it requires and we produce yarn means we have the technology for it. Glass fiber we buy from others.
What is the share of Garware in net and coated fabrics markets?
In net we have 2 segments, Shade for plants and nets for fisheries. Overall we have 35 to 40% share in the market. So Coated fabrics, we don’t have any reports on it. But probably we are at the second position.
What is your Price scale?
Our Price are not low, we are not cheap manufacturer. We are ahead in technology as compare to other manufacturer.
What is Garware’s future investment Plan in the next 5 to 10 years?
5 to 10 years is long term, but we have set our mind to invest 30 crores every year. Probably in 3 years we would look forward for new manufacturing plant location as per need.
