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‘Strengthening our partners has helped in building the domestic base for viscose’

From a giant, traditional company, to a giant dynamic company, Grasim Industries has made this transition in a period of just five years. In an exclusive interview with Reena Mital, Mr Thomas Varghese, executive president (marketing), Grasim Industries, says that the company’s changed focus from commodity fiber manufacturing, to extensive product and application development. This has been possible with the redefinition of its customers, and the unique marketing initiatives it has undertaken.

There has been very less R&D in viscose in India. Why did Grasim, one of the largest viscose producers in the world, think about R&D so late in the day?

R&D in viscose is not a recent phenomenon but a part of our organisational culture and a continuous process at Birla Viscose. The Aditya Birla group has emerged as the largest viscose producer worldwide, which is testimony of its dynamism and constant improvement in its products. Today, our products are popular, and have surpassed those of international giants in the world market. All this could not have happened with research and development. How important development of viscose products is to the company can also be gauged from the fact that we have undertaken detailed engineering for viscose plants through a separate dedicated company, which develops the machinery required. There have been tremendous developments in viscose in India, and in the last five years Grasim has undertaken very aggressive marketing initiatives to popularise the products. This we have done in a very unique manner, by identifying a number of strategic partners in each value segment - spinning, weaving, knitting, processing, garmenting and working very closely with them, offering all possible technical and marketing support to strengthen them, and in the process to build the domestic market for viscose. In addition, the R&D and product development group has brought up a host of new products like Micro viscose, heavy metal free technology, Grasisorb, hollow viscose fibre and a substantial improvement in its unique range of spun dyed viscose fibre. We have a separate application development department, which has extensively researched new applications for viscose, and has commercially exploited the same successfully, through our partners.

What are the objectives of the TRADC?

The Textile Research and Application Development Centre (TRADC) is very a unique concept, and one of its kind in the world. The centre will focus on research and development from the fibre stage right upto the finished fabric. The aim of the centre is to facilitate synergistic development of not just viscose and viscose based products, but all manmade fibre products. The TRADC was conceptualised keeping in mind the potential that the Indian industry has to become a one-stop shop for world buyers. This would put the industry in a commanding position after 2004, the turning point for textile trade. The TRADC will have pilot plants for spinning, weaving, knitting, processing and garmenting to develop samples for the industry, and showcase the best technologies, practices, etc which is very crucial for industry growth.

The Indian industry has not been very enthusiastic about R&D till now. Do you feel that such a facility would be utilised by it?

Before putting in such huge investments, we had to be sure that the industry accepted such a facility. In March this year, we met leading textile value chain manufacturers, educational institutes, TRAs, international buying houses, to understand what the industry needed and the response was overwhelmingly in favour of this. We have been working on this project with Gherzi Eastern as the turnkey consultant. We also made extensive studies to find out the actual equipment in all the sectors, the limitations and strengths, etc and on the basis of this we decided on the technologies that had to be installed in the centre. It is very encouraging that not only the industry but the government too has supported us in this endeavour.

The government has identified non-wovens and technical textiles as a growth engine for the textile industry. What work is Grasim doing in this field?

Grasim is open to any initiative to expand the market for non-wovens in the country, and we realise that it is the stronger players who will have to take the lead in developing this market in India. Again, we have adopted the strategy of working closely with our partners for development of this sector. From last year, we have begun efforts to develop certain viscose based non-woven consumer products for the export market through strategically identified partners. We have helped these units develop the right products by giving them technical and marketing support. We are now planning to launch some of these finished products under our brand. We have already carried out extensive studies with research institutes and the Indian Commercial Association for a list of viscose-based products in the Indian pharmacopoeia. We have also involved the non-woven manufacturers in showcasing and promoting their products through their participation in international exhibitions and fairs. This is important because a number of these manufacturers are unable to undertake aggressive marketing of their products, which we can do for them. However, for development of this sector, policy initiatives are needed, and the government is already working in this direction. Similarly, legislations are very important to develop the market for non-wovens and technical textiles. Huge investments are needed in technical textiles, and these will come in only if a market exists for such products. The government will need to work on this front too.

Do you see viscose consumption increasing?

Definitely. Globally, viscose consumption has been falling for sometime but it has stabilised globally over the last four years. This has been due to a number of factors - greater emphasis on viscose-based non-wovens, increasing awareness of viscose as a fashion fibre offering value addition and the introduction of cellulosic derivatives such as Lyocell, Modal, etc. And the Aditya Birla Group has recorded excellent global performance over the last five years. We accounted for global output of 16 per cent, five years back, which has gone up to 24 per cent in 2002, and would be slightly higher this year.

With the marketing initiatives and strategies that we have undertaken, we are witnessing very good demand for our products, within the country too, over the last five years. We are in the process of expanding capacities in all our plants the world over, which entails debottlenecking and new expansions. Here I would like to emphasise that India is one of the best sources for manmade fibre products both viscose and polyester, but traditionally India has been looked at as a cotton producing country and a source for our cotton-based products. This is despite the fact that we are second only to China in size for MMF-based textiles, and the industry has the potential to leverage this. This is even more so in case of viscose where India can offer the most competitive viscose products due to the pricing, technical and marketing support offered by “Birla Viscose”.