The Chinese dragon is about to hit the premier textile market in India. Aditya Birla group company Grasim has decided to foray into textile trading. Grasim will import bulk quantities of textiles, mainly from China and South Korea, and market them here under the Grasim brand.

Speaking to ET, Grasim executive president S Krishnamoorthy said, “Outsourcing is the order of the day. Instead of making a large capital investment and spending a lot on establishment cost, it’s becoming increasingly feasible to outsource the same category of textiles according to our requirement and market it across the country.”

Grasim is already in advanced stages of finalising bulk import agreements with a number of Chinese and South Korean companies. The foreign companies will manufacture textiles according to Grasim’s specifications. Grasim will send experts to the countries to provide necessary assistance to keep a vigil on quality.

Grasim’s textile portfolio mainly consists of polyester viscose, lycra and other polyester-grade fabrics. Grasim’s sole plant at Bhiwani (Haryana), which had around 7 lakh tonnes per month capacity around six months ago, now been increased to 15 million tonne per month. Outsourcing will not only increase Grasim’s production capacity but also increase its product range by utilising the available infrastructure abroad.

Mr Krishnamoorthy said, “Recent trends across the world have shown a steady decline in demand for denim and casualwear. It also appears that consumers have again started preferring formal and semi-formal clothing. Therefore, Grasim believes this is the right time to promote our kind of textiles along with our readymade formal and semi-formal wearables.”