Corporate Update

ITEMA open to set up production base in India

Italian textile machinery giant ITEMA is open to the idea of setting up production base in India to tap the growing market. India would be the third production centre for the company, which has manufacturing facilities at Italy and China. “The textile industry in India has shown good improvement in the last five years and is poised to grow faster than China in the future. India should absolutely be the choice for us and we are ready to do something here,” said Mr Danilo Arizzi, director, ITEMA (Asia) Limited, while talking to reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of ITEMA India in Coimbatore.

“The growing cost of power and wages in China also makes India a suitable destination,” he said. Delving further on the subject, Mr Danilo stated that the company was not interested in joint ventures and would prefer to start on its own in India. However, it is open to acquisitions. ITEMA has around 10 per cent share in the global market for weaving machinery and of this 60 per cent is consumed by China and 25 per cent by India. After five years, the company expects India and China to have nearly similar consumption patterns. “In the next five years, we believe, out of 100 machines sold in the world, 50 per cent would go to China and a greater part of the balance would be absorbed by India,” observed Mr Paolo Puntoni, marketing and overseas branches manager, ITEMA Spinning. “The inauguration of ITEMA India confirms our commitment to the Indian market, which represents today the most developing textile market among all the other countries,” said Dr Gabriele Checchini, managing director and CEO, ITEMA India.

ITEMA India has projected sales of 300-400 airjet looms for 2005-06. The company’s head office is situated on a sprawling campus at Coimbatore and is equipped with showroom facility, sales and service, spares supply, electronic PCB repairing and training. ITEMA India also serves the Indian market from cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Guntur and a network of seven agencies. Besides India, ITEMA India will also cater to the requirements (only spares) of Nepal and Sri Lanka. The company has a bonded warehouse for supply for spares. ITEMA India is equipped with Spares Online Service for providing timely information to customers on availability, prices and delivery time of spares to customers.