INDIA: Expansion Pays Off For Textile Firm Indo-Rama

Textile manufacturer, Indo Rama, has pulled itself out of the red after an aggressive expansion drive. Sales have risen 27 per cent to $216.3m and the H1 profit stands at $2.4m against a net loss for the same period last year of $3.24m. Exports grew 77 per cent to $67.7m from $38.3m. The company said that it intended to continue with its expansion plans and would set up a $366m plant for PTA/Paraxylene and raise polyester capacity from 67,000TPA to 235,000 TPA. The company has maintained operating margins at 15.4 per cent despite the imbalance in the duty structure which was created by the decrease in finished goods import duty from 35 per cent to 20 per cent without a corresponding reduction in the import duty on raw material.Indo Rama started trading in 1989 and its owners, Lohias, also control companies in Indonesia, Thailand and Turkey. Indian manufacturing is based at Pithampur in Central Indian state MP, and ButiBori near Nagpur in Western State Maharashtra. Pithampur has 88,944 spindles (25,248 reserved for exports) for synthetic blended yarns. Buti Bori has 59,184 spindles for spun yarn, a DuPont collaborated polymer and POY facility, and a Toyobo (Japan) collaborated PSF facility. Indo Rama accounts for 30 per cent of India's export of synthetic blended yarn.