Arvind shuts Mauritius unit

The Arvind Mills Ltd on Wednesday announced that it will shut down its Mauritius operations and shift the facilities to India.

The company said the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act Acceleration Act by three years means the returns expected from the Mauritius operations -- where it has invested Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) -- would not be adequate to justify the unit's existence.

Arvind Mills officials on Wednesday met the Mauritius labour minister to convey the decision. After shifting its plant and machinery to India, Arvind Mills will sell the land and building assets.

Arvind Mills had set up Arvind Overseas (Mauritius) Ltd in 1994, when it took over a defunct denim mill, Shape Fabrics. The new overseas company was named Arvind Overseas Ltd.

In 2003, Arvind Spinning Ltd was set up in 2003 for the company's garments operations and for vertical integration. The company, through its subsidiary companies, had a eight million metres of denim manufacturing capacity and two million metres of jeans capacity at Mauritius.

Jayesh Shah, chief financial officer and company secretary, Arvind Mills, said of the total staff of 510, 400 are locals, 50 are Indian and there are about 50 Indian managerial staff.