Indo Count eyes US home textiles mart

Indo Count has initiated pilot marketing in the US market for its maiden foray into home textiles.

This will help the company set up its marketing network by the time it begins trial run of the Rs 205 crore (Rs 2.05 billion) fabric plant in June.

The Kolhapur-based plant will have a capacity of 100,000 metres of fabric a day and has facilities for bleaching, dyeing and a processing house. It will churn out 16,000 sheet sets a day.

"For pilot marketing, we are supplying the yarn and outsourcing other requirements such as weaving, stitching and processing from other firms. This will help us get clients by the time our facilities are ready," said Mohit Jain, director.

The company already has a presence in the European markets where it exports cotton yarn and knitted fabric. But it will be entering the US markets for the first time through its home textile products, which include bed sheets, curtains, table linen and pillow covers.

Apart from following the traditional retail network to trace clients, the company has also put up its products in Internet protals based in the US. "About 10 per cent of the products' offtake has found its way through the net," adds Jain.

Indo Count, which has presence in the electronics sector too, is looking at its new business to spearhead growth. It will invest another Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) in the second phase of expansion, almost doubling its loom-capacity to 300.

"We are also in talks with Spanish designers and will also set up our own in-house design team," said Jain. He didn't rule out possibilities of launching home textile brands in the domestic market.

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