Indian innerwear firm to make inroads into Iran, Iraq

"As of now, we are looking to enter Iraq, Iran and Myanmar by the end of the current fiscal," managing director Vinod Gupta told IANS in an interview here.

The company, which makes brands like Dollar Club and Myme, joined hands with German retail giant Carrefour and Lulus three years ago to sell its products in the Gulf, Gupta said.

"Our brand has the highest sales among Indian companies in the Gulf. We are exporting to the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Doha and Bahrain. We are now selling about 60 lakh (six million) pieces annually," said Gupta.

It has also begun forays into Nepal.

With a turnover of Rs.296 crore (about $65 million) in 2009-10, the company is expecting to grow by 18 percent to reach a size of Rs.350 crore ($77 million) by the end of the 2010-11 fiscal year.

"We exported only to the Gulf last year. Our performance was the best in Oman, where our sales are the largest among all brands. In Oman, we cater to the mid-segment and last year sold 38 lakh pieces, more than the country's population," Gupta said.

By tagging on to Carrefour and Lulus, the Kolkata- and Ahmedabad-registered company is now moving ahead with plans to enter Europe. "A deal is going on. But I can't say when it will materialise," he said.

It exported goods worth Rs.25 crore ($5.5 million) last year, and plans to raise the amount to Rs.28 crore by the close of 2010-11.

It has four production units in Kolkata, Tirupur, Ludhiana and Delhi, with a total capacity of over 350,000 pieces a day.

Dollar Industries, which has Bollywood hero Akshay Kumar as the brand ambassador for the Dollar brand,  acquired a state-of-the-art spinning mill in Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu through auction last month.

"Our total investment is Rs.65 crore (nearly $15 million). It's a three-year-old mill and will help our backward integration service and quality maintenance. We will get an instant supply of cotton yarn," said Gupta.

"It will also help in improving our bottomline as we won't have to pay VAT because consumption will be in-house."

The innerwear manufacturer is also setting up three wind turbines - two of 1.25 MW and the third of 1.5 MW capacity - in Tamil Nadu.