Planning for revival in textile industry

Manoj John
Vice President - Strategic Initiatives
Sutlej Textiles and Industries Ltd.

Source of the article

Opportunities in MMF Textiles - Growth Beacon for Indian Textile Industry

In the aftermath of COVID-19, the Indian textile industry has immersed itself in examining viable business opportunities, further aided by Indian Government’s call to reduce or eliminate import dependency on China. The timing is right to give a huge impetus to build a strong portfolio for MMF textile products across the value chain. Success is more likely to be achieved by focusing on technology-intensive, and by building competitive advantage for better profit margins. 266 MMF textile products including fibres, yarns, fabrics, made-ups, apparels, specialised articles, and technical textile contributed to the trade-in US$ 389 billion according to the global trade data of the year 2019. China is dominant in major part of the textile value chain, and as global economic change occurs, an opportunity of import and export substitution rises in the favour of the Indian textile industry. The Government of India is promoting the country as destination worth investing through removal of anti-dumping duty on PTA, special economic zones targeting foreign investment, allotment of the budget of Rs. 1,480 crore for a national technical textile mission.


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Emotionally & Socially Intelligent Leadership & Work Place : Way Forward to Deal with post-COVID Challenges

Dr. Vipul Saxena,  Executive Vice President- Group HR, Sutlej Textiles and Industries Ltd.

With changing times, globalisation of business has given employees exposure to Human Resource Management practices and its positive impacts on Employee Engagement, Employee Performance and its direct relationship to Organisational Performance.

One very important feature that has emerged out of this learning is that its not only Employee Engagement but Employee Well-being which actually leads to enhanced Employee Performance. Employee Engagement only yields certain level of job satisfaction through role clarity, responsibility, accountability, clarity of vision & mission of the organisation through transparent internal & two way communication. Wheras Employee Well-being is stage ahead of Employee Engagement where employees feel that their physical, mental, psychological health are considered as organisational concerns, which make employees not only better engaged but also motivated. This results in further improvement in employee performance, retention and sense of reciprocation towards  organisation.

Workplace emotion is one of the key factors which effect employee well being. Workplace emotions are part of working environment affecting employee's emotions due to company policies, leader’s attitude, working relationships, office environment, inter-personal relationships which impact employee’s emotional levels both positively or negatively. Therefore, the extent to which company’s HR policies are employee friendly & employee caring will impact employee well being and emotional levels positively.

The role of leadership is pivotal in an organisation set to achieve enhanced employee engagement through employee well being. Therefore, globally Leadership styles too have gone through change/ in transition from Autocratic to Participative/Collaborative leadershi. 

At an emotional level, if the boss is empathetic to his or her team members, it triggers positive emotional level leading to employees feeling motivated and better engaged; they feel that there is someone whom they can confide about working comfort / personal matters and someone who cares for their emotional needs. Hence, It is the one of the key responsibilities of Leader to make & keep work place Emotionally Intelligent (EI).

It is prudent to understand that in changing times, along with need for Emotionally Intelligent (EI) work place, it is also expected to be Socially Intelligent (SI). It is believed that EI alone cannot lead to achieving Employee Well-being. SI is defined as Team member’s bonding among each other and with Leader Socially.

In the upcoming post-COVID challenging times, role of leaders in terms of EI & SI quotient will play very important role in restoring team synergy under altered emotional stress levels of employees, through empathetic personal conduct & driving innovative interventions across levels.  

On the Occasion of Women’s Day: - Ms. Smita Joshi, Vice-President (Exports)

Here’s to the good women,

May we know them,

May we be them,

May we raise them

We hear a lot about women empowerment, gender equality, and feminism as it makes you look cool! However it only remains an office fancy. I urge the men to ponder and try to take a bit back home.

It’s fascinating to see a working women cooking at 5 AM, putting the child on the school bus at 7 AM, hanging on the local train at 8 AM and showing up for a corporate meeting at 9 AM as decked up and refreshing as she can be, showing no signs of being tired.

Women don’t need to be empowered…They already are way too powerful. A little encouragement would be good though.

Today there is a growing fad in women to try to prove that they can do every job a man can.. we need to sit back and understand that we were born to do things a man can’t do.

Just be yourself!

We need to believe and put efforts in doing what each one of us is best at! We can do everything brilliantly!

We create, we nourish, and we give life! We turn a house into a home.

We don’t need a special treatment....Just an equal one!

We don’t need to be over compensated, just equally compensated.

In us lies the future of the families, communities and the country.

Let us do more of that but also not forget ourselves, our purpose, our dreams, our goals, our cherished small desires that are long forgotten, our fears that we always wanted to overcome and above all our health.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish every women @ Sutlej a very happy women’s day and every man to help her become one!

Go out and live your dreams, unleash your potential, face your fears and turn your dreams into a reality!!

The most powerful personality traits to develop in today’s changing world for success is to have incurable Optimism, Determination, and Work Integrity” – Mr. Suresh K Khandelia, President & CEO, Sutlej Textiles and Industries Ltd.

The guiding principle for the youth to be successful is to have an optimistic attitude, determination to achieve the goal and work with integrity. In this modern globalised world, our age-old Indian Ideology is still relevant and powerful.

Today, the youth is more informed and empowered to achieve their desired goal. Youth should work earnestly to acquire necessary skillsets, pursue with full capability to achieve the desired goal. Even in adverse conditions, one should not deviate from the principles laid for success. Firm Determination, Work Integrity, and Optimism will assist an individual to navigate the challenging and adverse environment with ease to achieve the desired objective.

Youth should not follow the herd mentality and take shortcuts to success. Instead believe in hard work and possess determination to achieve the set objective. The success achieved by hard work and work integrity is more fulfilling experience not only in professional life but also at a personal level.

Mr. SK Khandelia as a business leader not only lives by these principles but also takes every opportunity to guide youth to follow these principles to achieve success in professional and personal life.

SRTEPC AWARDS

India is continuously developing its textile traditions and bringing exceptional innovations in the textile industry. Indian yarns and fabrics are known for their excellent quality and versatility. History of textiles in India is so enriched that today India has become one of the most promising manmade textile manufacturers in the world. Indian manmade fibers industry is vast, vibrant, modern and continuously growing. Currently, India is producing 2655 million kgs of yarns, 1263 million kgs of manmade fibers and 27889 million square meters of fabric every year. The Indian government is also working to raise the reputation of Indian textiles globally.

The Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) is one of the oldest Export Promotion Council in India, sponsored by Indian govt., established in 1954 to promote the Indian exporters who fabricate manmade fibers and textiles. SRTEPC has developed a 20 point strategy in which they included the factors such as making raw materials to be made available at international price, bringing in fibers neutrality, considering textile merchant exporters as a manufacturer exporter, lowering interest rates, WTO-compatible schemes and branding to expand the manmade Indian textiles at the global scale. This council mainly focuses on the production of biodegradable and synthetic products. 

Every year, the council distributes awards to its member exporters to appreciate their accomplishment in the export of products that comprised under the purview of the council. This award custom was inaugurated in the year 1972 to grant certification to the exporters for their exemplary service in the field of manmade fibers textiles. SRTEPC award acknowledges the exporters that are performing as an inspiration to the other members.

We, SutlejTextiles and Industries Limited, devoted towards manufacturing noteworthy gamut of yarns, have been rewarded with the Gold Award at the award function for the category “Synthetic Dyed Spun Yarn Gold Award for Highest Exports in the Year 2018-2019”. We were acknowledged as the second-highest exports of spun yarn. We are one-stop solution providers with an aim to set ourselves as a benchmark in the textile industry and continuously working towards maintaining the status that SRTEPC has given to us.

The luminous award function of The Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) was held on February 8th, 2020 at Hriday Lawn in Mumbai. Our honorable minister of textiles Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani was the chief guest at the function and all the awards were conferred in her presence. Applauding the efforts of exporters, she said that in spite of invincible difficulties and global slowdown confronted by the textile industry, export of manmade textiles in India during the year 2018-2019 was of US$6.13 billion. She also added that it was impossible to achieve such great numbers without the combined efforts of the council and its exporter members.

Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani also released a report on the study of “Promoting Growth of Man-made Fibers Textile Industry in India – A Roadmap to identify gaps and suggest measures” by M/s. Gherzi Textil Organization AG, Zurich. She said that this report would help the exporters in both the export and production of manmade fibers. She finished the statement by saying that the textile industry will be motivated in the coming years from the acknowledgment of outstanding performance by exporters in meeting the international production and quality standards.

Shri Ronak Rughani, chairman of The Synthetic and Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) mentioned in his announcement that our government has made a recent budget for 2020-21 in which he is planning to inaugurate the National Technical Textiles Mission with a four year implementation period from 2020-21 to 2023-24 at an estimated expenditure of Rs. 1,480 crore. He also said that 90% of the fibers used in the National Technical Textiles Mission will come from the manmade fibers and therefore this mission will be like putting a new life into the manmade fibers textile segment. In the end, he remarked on the outstanding efforts made by the members in the export front and congratulated them.

Convener of the Export Award Committee and Former chairman of The Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC), Shri Anil Rajvanshi added that it is not only an award event but a celebration of hard work done by the companies. 

The Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) has the vision to take the Indian synthetic and rayon textiles internationally at a competitive level and make them sustainable so that they can serve equal benefit to both industries as well as environment.  Following the same, we at Sutlej are dedicated to manufacturing a hundred percent biodegradable and environment friendly range of yarns like cotton mélange, neppy yarn, polyester, acrylic, siro spun, multi-fold, double-ply, single-ply, lycra twisted, core-spun and roving grindle yarn. We are able to meet the exact demands of yarn buyers within India as well as out of India.

We became able to grab the SRTEPC award at the event because of our dedication towards business with sustainability. Our textile product ranges from exceptional grade yarn and fabrics to home furnishing and all are manufactured under the guidelines of The Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC). We are able to meet the modern trends and customer’s expectations in a highly environment-friendly manner and therefore The Synthetic and Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) acknowledged us with their prestigious award. Being a responsible and dedicated firm we are working hard to perpetuate our position and become the winner of the SRTEPC award every year.  

Sutlej: A leading brand

Towards a Beautiful Future With our Leading Industries

As we celebrate republic day, we are proud to announce that it’s been more than 70 years since our company took over the textile industry. On this special occasion, honorable legends of our country gave us our very own law system; the constitution came into force on January 26, 1950. The great leader Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar contributed his efforts to the nation and shared his ideology to make our country a better place, to make India one nation.

All the respect for our beloved founder Late Dr Krishna Kumar Birla, who helped to start the journey of Sutlej. Our roots were set up from Pre-Independent India, at Okara as Sutlej Cotton Mills Ltd in 1934. It earned in those critical times (the time of undivided province of Punjab) as Asia’s largest textile mill. At times like those, our legacy chose not to stand down by any kind of hurdle.

A dream that Late Dr. K K Birla saw with the growth of the country, by adopting the ideology of Babasaheb Ambedkar, to make our company world’s leading and largest textile solution provider. During Independence movement in the 1940s & 50s, the company was reestablished in 1963 as Rajasthan Textile Mills at Bhawanimandi in Jhalawar district of Rajasthan. From there the production of cotton yarn started and later diversified into synthetic blended yarn.

After Establishment as expansion continued Sutlej purchased all Chenab Textile Mills’ assets, bringing the facility into its fold. The company emerged as a value added yarns business in domestic and export markets and building sustainable unique position for us in home business. To enhance our economy, quantity, and quality, we have installed modern technology and commissioned captive power plants for more outcomes.

As a small token of gratitude for our hard work to put a smile on our customers’ face, we, Sutlej Textiles received, “Bhamashah Samman”, “TEXPROCIL”, and “SRTEPC” for best export performance of spun yarn, and for contribution towards our customers’ satisfaction. We take these achievements as inspiration, and look forward to receive more. Our company is emerging as “One Stop Textile Solutions”, and it presents the largest product portfolio of Spun dyed, Cotton blended, and Dyed yarns. These appreciations show us that we are moving forward with the leading generation.

As we grew over the time, we expanded the spindle capacity as well as evolving designs for consumers; our company built its manufacturing mills in the states of Rajasthan (Bhawanimandi), Himachal Pradesh (Baddi), Jammu & Kashmir (Kathua), and home textile fabric division at Daheli (Gujarat).

With a clear understanding for textile industries, we entered home textiles segment in 2006, our strategy is to form independent environment by expanding relationship across countries in international markets, agents, and dealers. The company has majored development and emerging economies in over 62 countries. Our company has a strong reputation amongst textile manufacturers in key markets like Turkey, Bangladesh, USA, Poland, Egypt, Italy, Portugal, Columbia, Africa, South Africa, and Morocco.

Our renowned products that we produced are Yarns and Home textiles:

Yarns: We are the leading exporters and the largest producers of blended dyed Spun yarn, and value added synthetic yarns in India. We are number one producer of Melange (yarn in India); we process 25% India’s total capacity of dyed yarn spindles. We had increased 8% growth in yarn production during 2016-17 & 2017-18. We produce varieties of yarns like; 100% Polyester, 100% Viscose, 100% Cotton, 100% Modal and Tencel, 100% Cotton mélange and Cotton dyed, 100% Acrylic/Non-bulk, Polyester/Viscose blends, Polyester/Cotton blends, Polyester/Acrylic blends, Viscose/Cotton blends, Modal/Cotton, Modal/Polyester, Bamboo/Cotton.

Home Textiles: Our Company’s fabrics are benchmarked to international ground with international quality standards. We stand with the purity, consistency, and value of our product. With an attractive and the best In-house design, we rule over the heart of home decor with a thousand of options for consumers. We guarantee quality product with the latest testing technologies. Over the years we made trust and reliability with our clients, and they made us their companion with their trust.

We are the company with a team of goal achievers, and we believe, together we can achieve more than we are doing today. As our country grows, we are committed towards growth with our customers’ expectations.

We wish you a very Happy Republic Day,

From Sutlej family.